Last year, when few in the public arena were talking about a national broadband strategy for the United States, Jim Baller and his law partner, Casey Lide, wrote two extensive articles making the case for such a strategy and setting forth an eight-step plan to develop one. Since then, an avalanche of discussion on the issue has emerged—and Baller was named the community broadband visionary of the year by the National Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) “for almost single-handedly putting the issue of America’s need for a national broadband strategy at the forefront of public consciousness.
“Support for a national broadband strategy is growing rapidly across America,” said Baller, a founder of the Community Broadband Coalition and an attorney specializing in communications law. “Individuals and organizations representing a broad cross-section of American life have now called for a national broadband strategy, including the American Public Power Association, NATOA, the National League of Cities, EDUCAUSE, Public Technology Institute, Free Press, Communications Workers of America, and many others. So, too, have many leading high technology companies and organizations, including the Fiber to the Home Council, Amazon, Cisco, COMTEL, Google, and many more. At times, even incumbents Verizon and AT&T have supported the development of a national strategy.”