FCC's Genachowski at Rainbow PUSH Coalition Telecommunications Symposium

Speaking at the annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition Telecommunications Symposium in Washington (DC), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski stressed the importance of broadband to the economic recovery.

"Broadband is indispensable infrastructure for our 21st century economy," he said, noting its crucial role in economic growth and job creation, healthcare, energy and education. The National Broadband Plan, he said, addresses both broadband deployment and adoption. "The digital divide is seriously troubling; more troubling now than in the past, because the costs of digital exclusion are rising. Closing this divide is one of the most important civil rights issues of our time."