Welcome to BroadbandCensus.com

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2009 – Officials at the agency responsible for crafting the federal government’s broadband stimulus policies held 36 meetings meeting over the past two months – 17 with federal legislators, 11 with private companies and non-profit groups, and eight with state and city officials. In the two months since the National Telecommunications and Information Administration opened  its doors to these private meetings, the focus of the 36 meetings appears to have been three-fold: explaining and discussing the program with legislators; NTIA-solicited input from geographic companies; and obtaining advice from states with programs for broadband incentives. The record of the meetings was released by the NTIA, an agency of the Commerce Department, on their web site over the past two weeks. It was updated late last week to include the meetings with federal legislators. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/exparte.html The degree of detail about the content of the meetings varied widely. In some cases, elaborate Power Point presentations were included in the record. In other cases, only brief and cryptic summaries of the points made by the various parties were posted. In general, the earlier meetings in March included much more detailed information. The descriptions of the meetings in April tended...

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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2009 - Making broadband applications more relevant in underserved and unserved communities could be a better use of stimulus funds than building infrastructure, a group of state and local regulatory officials Friday at a cable industry show here. The lack of relevance to users is definitely the "largest barrier to broadband adoption," said John Horrigan, associate research director at the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Dealing with the issue properly will require infrastructure programs to be combined with "training and support" initiatives to improve overall digital literacy, said Horrigan. In addition to focusing on rural areas, California Public Utility Commissioner Rachelle Chong said that "urban disadvantaged" communities is an area in which her state is actively involved through the California Emerging Technology Fund. The fund paid for computer refurbishing programs and technology training in low-income communities. But California has bigger plans, she said, including a "digital literacy" policy for the state's entire education system. One "big think" project that could come next year is the distribution of laptop computers to all students in the lowest performing middle schools, along with appropriate technology training for teachers, students, and their parents. Chong later said California could possibly submit...

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News

By Andrew Feinberg, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, February 14, 2009 – State utility commissioners are considering a resolution to "strongly encourage" Federal Communications Commission implementation of a pilot program to make broadband internet access service eligible for subsidies drawn from the Universal Service Fund. The measure is entitled "Resolution on Lifeline and Link-Up Program Support for Broadband Internet Access Services and Devices." Sponsored by District of Columbia Public Service Commissioner Betty Ann Kane, it was introduced at the winter meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners here on Friday afternoon. The Lifeline Assistance program has provided discounted rates on local phone service to low income consumers since 1985. The Link-Up America program began in 1987, and covers the cost of initial connection charges for phone service. Both programs are administered jointly by federal and state regulators and funded by assessments on all telecommunications services, as part of the Universal Service Fund. The USF is designed to provide universal telephone service. With the exception of the eRate, which funds internet connections to schools and libraries, FCC rules limit USF subsidies to voice communications. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to make "advanced telecommunications and information services" available to all at "just, reasonable and affordable...

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News

By Andrew Feinberg, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, February 11, 2009 - The economic stimulus legislation entered conference negotiations Tuesday afternoon after the Senate voted 63-37 to approve its version of the massive bill. But as lawmakers from both the House and Senate met to reconcile differences between the two chambers bills, the broadband stimulus provisions were the subject of fierce criticism by a panel of economists at the American Enterprise Institute. The broadband package that comes out of conference will probably undergo "lots of changes" before it reaches the President's desk, said the Brookings Institution’s Robert Crandall. And the provisions may not even be necessary, he said. Crandall cited a Pew study showing that while 55 percent of Americans have broadband service, the other 45 percent chooses not to subscribe to such services. The technology that would be deployed by the stimulus funds, a combination of tax credits and grants, might be obsolete in a rapidly changing environment, Crandall said. In particular, Crandall was skeptical of the program's goal of expanding access to rural areas – a practice he compared to the longstanding policy of subsidizing rural telephone service. There is "almost no economic analysis" on whether such universal service programs work, he said, citing a...

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Reports

Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

Editor's Note:This working paper was originally written for the Aspen Institute's Communications and Society Program's August 2007 forum in Aspen, Colorado, in which the author participated. At the time, the author was Senior Fellow and Project Manager at the Center for Public Integrity. The paper was included in "A Framework for a National Broadband Policy" (PDF). Republished with permission of the Aspen Institute. What do broadband users want? The ability to connect online through some form of access, obviously. Service that doesn’t cost a fortune, clearly. Fundamentally and personally, however, what do broadband users want by going online? Why do 47 percent of adult Americans subscribe to broadband? Conversely, why do a little more than half not subscribe? Why do subscribers keep paying their monthly bills? In considering a framework for a national broadband policy, what can we learn from considering broadband adoption trends, both quantitatively and qualitatively? In this paper, two specific questions about broadband adoption are addressed. Both are framed in the context of also considering the availability of broadband access and the affordability of available choices; those topics are explored in other papers. For this paper, consider: • What other factors, such as equipment subsidies...

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Key Academics, State Officials and Broadband Data Collectors to Speak

Embassy of Ireland to Give Luncheon Keynote Address on Publicly-Available Broadband Data

Coverage of the Broadband Census for America Conference

• Broadband Census for America Conference Web Site
• Tvol's Flickr photostream of the Broadband Census for America Conference
• "Propriety Data Cited as Challenge for Broadband Mapping," by Lynn Stanton, TR Reports
• "Regulators, Officials Debate Need for National Broadband Policy, Fund," by Carrie DeLeon, TR Reports
• "Service Providers Should Report Better Metrics, Panelists Say," by Scott Sleek, Broadband Advisory Services, Pike & Fischer
• "U.S. Copes with Broadband Statistics Void," IP Democracy
• "Guessing at data," Susan Crawford's blog
• "Experts call for broadband transparency,"by Maya Prabhu, ESchool News
• American Library Association District Dispatch

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2008 – Many of the nation’s foremost broadband policy-makers and experts will analyze and discuss best practices for improving the collection and sharing of public data about high-speed internet access at the Broadband Census for America Conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 26, 2008. Panelists at the half-day conference include Rachelle Chong, California Public Utility Commissioner; broadband data pioneer Professor Kenneth Flamm...

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