National Broadband Plan Workshops

National Broadband Plan Workshops

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009 and requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deliver a National Broadband Plan to Congress by February 17, 2010. The Recovery Act mandates that the National Broadband Plan "shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal."

To inform the plan and more directly involve the American public, the FCC is hosting a series of workshops in August and early September 2009 (view these workshops on the calendar). The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan. Key constituents will include service providers, equipment providers, applications providers, community groups, and other groups that have a stake in the future of broadband.

The workshops are open to the public at the Commission's headquarters building and online. In preparation for the workshops, a detailed list of topics has been posted at http://www.broadband.gov/workshops.html The public is invited to use the web site to suggest additional topics or revisions to those now slated for discussion at the workshops. The public is also invited to suggest questions for the workshops.

"Broadband is our generation's major infrastructure challenge. It's critical that all stakeholders provide the Commission with the information it needs to develop a National Broadband Plan that will spur innovation, promote competition, create jobs, and bring the powerful benefits of broadband to all Americans," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "The effort to focus dialogue on specific topics in an open, participatory format is one of the many ways the Commission is trying to develop a comprehensive and meaningful record for the development of the Plan."

On June 5, 2009, Chairman Genachowski announced that Blair Levin would rejoin the FCC to help coordinate its development of the National Broadband Plan. Levin last served at the FCC as chief of staff to Chairman Reed Hundt from December 1993 through October 1997. Described by Broadcast and Cable Magazine as "The Sixth Commissioner," Levin oversaw, among other matters, the implementation of the historic 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the first spectrum auctions, and the development of digital television standards. More recently, Levin has been the principal telecom, media and tech regulatory and strategy analyst for Legg Mason's Capital Markets Group and Stifel Nicolaus.

To track progress on the National Broadband Plan, see http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/2478

Also check out the Benton Foundation's Action Plan for America: Using Technology and Innovation to Address Our Nation's Critical Challenges