Broadband Lifeline and Connect2Compete Mark A New ‘Broadband Moment’ Around Adoption and Usage

[Commentary] If 2008 marked the dawn of our national “broadband moment,” this summer and fall may well be the beginning of a new era of broadband adoption and usage. A major national initiative, dubbed “Connect2Compete,” is just beginning to find its footing.

In a webinar two weeks ago, this collaboration of corporate, philanthropic and community leaders delineated their mission, goals and timetables. It is to use the “power of the internet to improve the lives of low income Americans and their ability to thrive in the global economy.” Additional, the Federal Communications Commission is in the midst of launching an exciting Broadband Lifeline pilot program. This $25 million pilot program could help pave the way for a Universal Broadband Fund. Such a fund could do for internet connectivity what the Universal Service Fund, in an earlier era, did for making the telephone an anchor of American life.