Telcos, groups draw up national broadband strategy

Updated at 6:30 p.m. PST with report on economic stimulus plan.

Telecom and tech companies joined with labor unions, public interest groups, and other organizations Tuesday to issue a "call to action" (PDF) for a national broadband strategy.

The coalition (PDF) is asking for President-elect Barack Obama and the next Congress to make national broadband deployment a top priority in 2009 and has set forth a framework for successfully implementing a broadband plan.

"The national broadband strategy should set out several clear, forward-looking, and attainable goals that take into account the ability of broadband to generate huge benefits in education, environmental protection, scientific research, medicine, health care, energy efficiency, transportation, and overall economic vitality," the call to action reads.

Those goals, it says, should include ensuring that every American home, business, and public and private institution has access to affordable, high-speed broadband and that Internet access is open to all providers and users. It also says network operators should have the right to manage their networks according to clear standards, and the broadband market should be as competitive as possible.

To meet those goals, the federal government should stimulate broadband investment, the coalition says, by means such as tax incentives, grants, or subsidies. It should also encourage broadband adoption among consumers, the coalition says.

The group, which includes Cisco Systems, Verizon, Google, the New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, the American Library Association, and others, intends to continue working together and will present more specific policy recommendations in the spring of 2009.

Meanwhile, the federal government's economic stimulus package is expected to include investment in broadband Internet infrastructure, a senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

[bluntperspectives]

Wouldn't it be nice if there were some "silver bullet" or "magic wand" to fix our economy, education and healthcare systems? Something that would spur job growth, level the playing field and provide us a future? Help fix the environment, lower the cost of power and fuel, and improve your every-day quality of life?

I encourage you to look to Broadband for the answer. By investing and encouraging Broadband growth and adoption, every sector in the American economy and our life has a chance to thrive while cutting costs and improving quality.

A great example is healthcare; a study by the Rand Corporation found that if most hospitals and doctors offices adopted electronic health records, up to $77 billion of savings would be realized each year. Just this simple step can reduce costs significantly, ultimately benefiting consumers.

Barack?s tech policy, as well as this Call to Action letter - reads much like business plans and schpiel I wrote as an early pioneer in the wireless broadband space, especially regarding delivering Tier 1 [city] connectivity to [rural] Tier 2/3 markets.

I for one bleed this exact initiative and back it wholeheartedly!!!

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Scott Stevens

@wirelesscott IM and twitter
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sstevens
http://bluntperspectives.com
http://scottstevens.net

[kh54270]

People who place their trust in the Government to solve the ills of the world will always be disappointed. We are in the midst of tough economic times in large part because of the Government and their incessant meddling with the markets. We now are faced with the largest debt load of any time in our history and it will only get worse as the Government continues to inject more resources into a failed economy.

It absolutely amazes me when people fall prey to idea that an entity like the Government can solve the ills of the masses. Who is going to bail the government out when the dollar is worthless? Who is going to pay for all the infrastructure costs when unemployment skyrockets? What a country! We can vote for free public education, national health care, broadband internet access and what ever we want! A day will come, far to soon I fear, where the debt will be called and then what? If electronic health records can save the industry $77 billion a year then what are they waiting for? As an industry, you would think it would be a no brainer? Unless of course the investment to make that happen outweighed the benefit. That?s not reality though because that process is happening but it takes time. Could it move along faster? Maybe, but it is moving. The technology and the workforce has to move along as well.

Yeah, I'm a free market guy and believe we are individually responsible for the choices we make. That doesn't mean I don't have compassion for those who are less fortunate. It means we have the responsibility to reach out to everyone and help them improve. I just don't believe the Government is the best vehicle to do that. It takes the responsibility off the individual and makes it someone else?s problem for their failure. I?m more inclined to do my part personally, to instill confidence in people I come in contact with on a daily basis. To encourage and teach people that there is more to life by taking action, even baby steps, rather than waiting for the Government to solve the ills of the day.