Fifth Annual Broadband Summit

Created by Wendy Wigen (EDUCAUSE) on June 24, 2009

The fifth annual Broadband Policy Summit was held June 18-19 in Arlington, VA and managed once again to draw a “who’s who in telecommunications policy” list of participants. Chairman Rick Boucher and Mark Seiffert of the NTIA gave the opening keynotes and Interim FCC Chairman Michael Copps gave the luncheon address. Of special note was the Regulatory Outlook panel for its bristling debate and the Net Neutrality panel for its low key congeniality. Ben Scott, of Free Press, summed it up when he stated that, “ this year marks a tipping point, a turn in focus from broadband as a commercial service to one of broadband as infrastructure.” There was no debate about whether or not government should get involved, but only where and how much; there was no debate about how the U.S. is doing compared to the rest of the world, only that we need to do better. Roger Sherman, Chairman Waxman’s Chief Counsel, declared that 2009 was marked to be “the year of broadband” in the Commerce Committee. Although climate change and healthcare have dominated so far, broadband remains a priority and there is confidence that the FCC will design an effective national broadband plan (NBP). Issues of contention remain including: definitions of unserved, underserved, and “broadband”, affordability, network management principles, competition, sustainability, and the role of wireless. Chairman Copps cautioned that the NBP must not get sidetracked and delayed by attempting to solve all of these issues, but should strive to get good data and move forward. There are increasingly more areas of agreement as well such as the importance of educating the public on the value of Internet usage and making free or low cost equipment and training available. Perhaps the highlight came when Jim Cicconi of AT&T stated that, “written correctly”, they could join Verizon in accepting non-discrimination language being added to the FCC’s Internet Principles, something that has been at the heart of the infamous net neutrality debate. For more information on the program and the speakers go to: http://www.broadbandpolicysummit.com/

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		Fifth Annual Broadband Summit Created by Wendy Wigen (EDUCAUSE) on June 24, 2009 The fifth annual Broadband Policy Summit was held June 18-19 in Arlington, VA and managed once again to draw a “who’s who in telecommunications policy” list of participants. Chairman Rick Boucher and Mark Seiffert of the NTIA gave the opening keynotes and Interim FCC Chairman Michael Copps gave the luncheon address. Of special note was the Regulatory Outlook panel for its bristling debate and the Net Neutrality panel for its low key congeniality. Ben Scott, of Free Press, summed it up when he stated that, “ this year marks a tipping point, a turn in focus from broadband as a commercial service to one of broadband as infrastructure.” There was no debate about whether or not government should get involved, but only where and how much; there was no debate about how the U.S. is doing compared to the rest of the world, only that we need to do better. Roger Sherman, Chairman Waxman’s Chief Counsel, declared that 2009 was marked to be “the year of broadband” in the Commerce Committee. Although climate change and healthcare have dominated so far, broadband remains a priority and there is confidence that the FCC will design an effective national broadband plan (NBP). Issues of contention remain including: definitions of unserved, underserved, and “broadband”, affordability, network management principles, competition, sustainability, and the role of wireless. Chairman Copps cautioned that the NBP must not get sidetracked and delayed by attempting to solve all of these issues, but should strive to get good data and move forward. There are increasingly more areas of agreement as well such as the importance of educating the public on the value of Internet usage and making free or low cost equipment and training available. Perhaps the highlight came when Jim Cicconi of AT&T stated that, “written correctly”, they could join Verizon in accepting non-discrimination language being added to the FCC’s Internet Principles, something that has been at the heart of the infamous net neutrality debate. For more information on the program and the speakers go to: http://www.broadbandpolicysummit.com/ Washington Update \| FCC \| National Broadband Policy \| Net Neutrality \| NTIA \| Washington Update Wendy's blog Login or register to post comments 80 reads
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