Category: National Broadband Strategy

Jim Baller Interview on C-Span’s “The Communicators”

James Baller, founder of the US Broadband coalition, discusses efforts to lobby Congress and the Administration of President-elect Barack Obama for a National Broadband Strategy. Anne Veigel of Communications Daily, is co-host. Program from Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008.

Investing in America’s Infrastructure: From Bridges to Broadband

The Hamilton Project released six new policy papers and hosted a public forum on the need for a national strategy that promotes infrastructure as a central component of long-term, broadly shared growth. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine joined former U.S. Treasury secretaries Robert E. Rubin and Lawrence H. Summers in the opening session of the forum. Summers gave remarks on the role of infrastructure investments in stimulating economic growth, particularly in the current difficult economic context. Kaine addressed the infrastructure challenges facing the states with a focus on his experiences in the Commonwealth. The opening session concluded with an opportunity for audience Q&A.

Major Metro Cities, Mayors Call For National Broadband Action

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) on Monday, June 23, unanimously passed a resolution calling for broadband deployment action at the national level. The resolution was co-sponsored by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and calls on the Administration, the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a national broadband policy that makes high speed internet connections to cities a national imperative. The resolution also called for measures to preserve the ability of local governments to provide broadband services within their communities.

US Conference of Mayors Resolution 104

BE IT RESOLVED that if U.S. cities are to thrive as engines of economic growth and be globally competitive in the 21st Century, then the Administration, Congress and the FCC should take action now to develop a comprehensive national broadband policy that includes high speed broadband deployment to cities as an imperative;

New America Foundation event on Capitol Hill to introduce Baller Herbst paper

Although the U.S. once led the world in Internet deployment and innovation, our nation continues to plummet in international rankings in terms of broadband adoption, speeds and costs. As a result, there is growing support for an affirmative national broadband policy to promote more affordable and ubiquitous access to high-bandwidth connectivity. 

Cathy Swirbul’s extensive interview of Jim Baller

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.”