FCC Chairman: More People Need to Make Broadband National Priority

On August 24, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said that some people still aren't treating broadband as a national priority, and pointed to the recent decision on the FCC's annual broadband access report as an example. He conceded that participants at a broadband summit would be expected to agree that broadband is a priority, but said: "I do want you to know that is not the uniform opinion in Washington or in our state governments."

Chairman Genachowski said that in contrast to past broadband reports, in which the FCC looked at broadband and said, "yes, everything's fine," he came to a far different conclusion after looking at the most recent report with his staff. "I said 'this is crazy.' We see how other countries are moving, we see the challenges, the answer is 'No,'" Chairman Genachowski said, adding that one would have thought that conclusion would have been "unanimous and without criticism....That was a 3-2 vote." The conclusion was criticized by many in industry as well as the dissenting commissioners, who said they were troubled by the failing grade. "[P]people in this room understand about the importance of broadband to small businesses, to our economy, to healthcare and public safety...[but] we're in the early innings in terms of having it really become a national priority," the chairman said, adding that more people have to understand that standing still is moving backwards.