Category: Other Materials

Report of the California Broadband Task Force

As a result of Executive Order S-23-06, the California Broadband Task Force has spent the last year identifying opportunities for—and challenges to—broadband deployment and adoption. The enclosed report represents the culmination of that work,including maps of current broadband availability and speed, recommendations to achieve ubiquitous access and increased use, and a timeframe in which to meet these critical goals.

Japan Eyes 10 Gigs by 2010 as United States Sweats 200 Kbps

In Japan today, the “point of competition” is a gigabit, and by 2010 it will be at 10 gigabits, observed telecommunication lawyer and broadband champion Jim Baller as he kicked off the panel “Broadband Policy Imperatives from the Bottom Up” at the 15th Digital Cities Convention in Washington, DC (December 11-12, 2007).

Benton Foundation: Universal Affordable Broadband for All Americans

For more than 200 years, Americans have approached the future the same way that Huck Finn looked a the bend in the river: even though we didn’t know for sure what was coming next, we always had a sense of limitless possibility about where we were going and where it could take us. Americans, whose ideas have changed the world, are the ones who have been able to see around that bend, catch a glimpse of the future, capture its potential, and ensure that all Americans can partake.

CALEA online resources

CALEA Mandate Affects Broadband Providers Nationwide

By Casey Lide. Published in the NATOA Journal, fall 2007

“In late 2006, following a decision by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in American Council on Education v. FCC, broadband service providers nationwide were suddenly presented with a new and extensive federal mandate. Under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA), by May 14, 2007 facilities-based broadband and VoIP service providers were to ensure that their networks are technically capable of providing certain surveillance capabilities to law enforcement, potentially at great expense, or face the prospect of incurring a fine of up to $10,000 per day. Over the intervening months, those service providers who were aware of
the new requirements have expended substantial resources simply to determine how and whether to comply, in addition to the direct expense of any technical solution they may be compelled to implement.”

The Case For Universal Broadband in America, Now

Today, more than three years after President Bush made universal broadband “in every corner of America” by 2007 an explicit goal of his administration, millions of Americans are still without broadband access to the Internet. The reality is that in 2007, there are wide swaths of our nation that have no broadband. Other areas have access only to low quality “fraudband” that is so slow, unreliable or unaffordable that it fails to meet other countries’ definitions of broadband, and fails to provide the benefits that President Bush described when he established the goal.

John Edwards’ Stance on Technology and Broadband Development

Invest in Rural Broadband: Rural households are about half as likely to have a broadband connection. Just as FDR’s rural electrification initiative brought power to every corner of the country, Edwards will set a national broadband policy with a goal of giving all U.S. homes and businesses access to real high-speed internet by 2010. Universal broadband will give rural areas better access to medical care and specialists through tele-medicine facilities. A national broadband map will identify service gaps to encourage investment, Edwards will require telephone and cable companies not to discriminate against rural communities, and set aside a portion of the broadcast spectrum for community providers to improve service in rural areas. [ITU, 2006; CWA, 2006]

Japan’s Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future

Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it. Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States — and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world’s fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show.

Bill Moyers talks with FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps

BILL MOYERS: Low-power radio is one piece of the media landscape — a small piece…an alternative, as you’ve just heard, to the handful of corporate giants that have gobbled up practically every media outlet in sight. Those media titans control most of what we hear, see and read and they still want more.