In response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, Charles Benton, chairman of the Benton Foundation, made the following statement:
I am gladdened to hear the President’s recognition of broadband’s crucial role in our recovering economy. I am especially excited to hear a commitment to encouraging, creating and protecting competition in the broadband marketplace. And, in areas where we cannot expect competition to exist, the President is right to embrace a role for government for promoting broadband deployment. Like the President, the Benton Foundation stands on the side of competition, on the side of small business owners, on the side of students and schools, and on the side of choice for communities. If community leaders believe they must act to improve local broadband networks, they should be allowed to craft local solutions – even if that means a community providing its own broadband if it decides that is its best option.