CWA: National Broadband Plan Must Include Public Hearings, Benchmarks for Progress

The Communications Workers of America filed comments on the development of a national broadband plan recommending: 1) A series of public hearings in communities across the country that will help provide guidance for the national plan from a broad group of citizens, businesses and communities; 2) Benchmarks that are ambitious, but achievable, with an initial goal of 10 megabits per second downstream and 1 megabit per second upstream. CWA is calling for specific benchmarks to increase broadband speeds to the home over a six-year period; 3) Establishing tax incentives that encourage private businesses to build out and upgrade universal, advanced networks. Encouraging and accelerating the deployment of these advanced networks is an extremely cost-effective policy; and 4) Safeguarding consumers and create quality jobs by requiring public reporting for deployment, actual speed, price and quality of service, and insisting that employers adhere to all labor laws and standards, including workers' rights to bargaining collectively and form a union.