Diverse group calls for national broadband policy

On Tuesday, a diverse group of 55 signatories (including the benton Foundation) released a call to action for a national broadband strategy aimed at making broadband deployment and adoption a priority for the Obama administration. The document, endorsed by parties as varied as AT&T, Verizon, Google, Free Press and municipal broadband players, seeks to find a middle ground on which all broadband players can stand and endorse the push to make broadband ubiquitous in the US. According to organizer Jim Baller, this is the first step in a process that will include a major event in the spring of 2009 to continue to focus on the need for broadband deployment and adoption. Past "a comprehensive national broadband strategy," the groups called for 1) Open access to the Internet "to the maximum feasible extent" for all users, service providers, content providers, and application providers. 2) Rights for network operators to manage their networks "responsibly, pursuant to clear and workable guidelines and standards." 3) A competitive Internet and broadband marketplace, to the greatest extent possible. 4) Broadband network performance, capacity, and connections that US citizens need to compete successfully in the global marketplace.