DIGITAL DIVIDE
Behind The Curve
New Spectrum Bill Promises A Public Interest Dividend
BROADBAND
Consumers Assail FCC Broadband Proposal Cite Threat to Net; Consumers
Key Senator Unveils New Broadband Bill
DIGITAL DIVIDE
BEHIND THE CURVE
Though some Hispanic-owned small businesses have embrace technology, the
vast majority still lag behind. According to a study sponsored by
Microsoft Corp., less than 6 percent of Hispanic small-business owners
have an e-commerce strategy compared with 35 percent of non-minority
small businesses. The reasons for this are myriad. Some experts say
training, education and incentives are needed to spur Hispanic business
owners to use the Internet. Others point to perceptions within the
Hispanic business community that customers don't use the Internet, that
a niche business doesn't lend itself to e-commerce or that the Internet
is costly. But these are only part of the problem. For many Hispanics,
the small-business digital divide begins very early. Says Maria Villar,
vice president of IBM's e-Business Transformation Planning and co-chair
of IBM's Hispanic Digital Divide Task Force, "We found it starts when a
[technological foundation is not established early on in their
education. That ultimately drives their comfort level with the
technology as they grow older and get into their own businesses." Frank
Valenzuela, a Seattle aerospace manufacturer who is co-owner of Shedd's
A.C. Tool Co., sees a great need for the Hispanic community to narrow
the business technology gap. "The ability to provide these technologies
can really be a competitive advantage for small-business owners. There
are a lot of compelling reasons why it's important for the Latino
community to step up to the challenge. It's a challenge for communities,
for families, for businesses and for the government to put a
comprehensive agenda in place to address the gap."
[SOURCE: Hispanic Business; AUTHOR: Teresa Talerico]
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=6740
NEW SPECTRUM BILL PROMISES A PUBLIC INTEREST DIVIDEND
Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday introduced the Wireless
Technology Investment and Digital Dividends Act. The bill advances three
important goals in the public interest. First, Markey's bill calls for
the creation of a permanent Digital Dividends Trust Fund that, with
proceeds from spectrum auctions, would support both "human capital
telecommunications investments" and "broadband infrastructure
investments for public access and rural development." A second goal is
the establishment of a Spectrum Commons where two bands of frequencies
would be set aside for unlicensed public use as an open wireless
platform for communications. Thirdly, Markey stresses that his bill will
ensure that specific policy objectives and goals would be set before
spectrum auctions are scheduled. According to the Center for Digital
Democracy, the bill is an "important first step in realizing the full
democratic potential of the broadband revolution."
[SOURCE: CDD]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/markeyBill.html)
BROADBAND
CONSUMERS ASSAIL FCC BROADBAND PROPOSAL CITE THREAT TO NET; CONSUMERS
In comments to be filed today, leading national consumer and media
advocacy organizations have charged that the FCC is pursuing an illegal
deregulatory agenda that will result in significant harm to competition,
consumers and the Internet. The groups filing comments include Consumer
Federation of America, the Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel,
Consumers Union, Media Access Project, the Center for Digital Democracy
and other state and local groups. The groups contend that the recent
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, issued by the FCC in its "Wireless
Broadband" proceeding, proposes a reclassification of Internet Services
from a standard telecommunications service to an "information service."
The groups argue that this reclassification would allow local phone
monopolies to close their networks to broadband Internet competition.
Further, it is argued that the FCC proposal violates the 1996
Telecommunications Act. Andy Schwartzman, President and CEO, Media
Access Project, points out that "The 1996 Act makes it clear that
nondiscriminatory access must be required except under one of two
circumstances: The Commission must find tha sufficient competition
exists in product or geographic markets to make regulation unnecessary,
or there has been a major failure in the deployment of advanced
telecommunications capabilities. The Commission has made no such
findings."
[SOURCE: Consumer Federation of America]
(http://www.consumerfed.org/wirelinereleasefinal.pdf) (Adobe Acrobat
Reader required)
KEY SENATOR UNVEILS NEW BROADBAND BILL
Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.) introduced
legislation yesterday that would accelerate high-speed Internet
deployment throughout the U.S. The Broadband Telecommunications Act of
2002, as the bill is known, would use existing telephone taxes and
government funding to achieve this goal, rather than using dereglation
of the current telecom broadband industry. A spokesman for Hollings said
that the bill tackles two major problems: how to make broadband widely
available, and how to develop applications appealing to the public.
Hollings' legislation directly opposes other Congressional efforts, such
as the Tauzin-Dingell bill, which seek to dismiss regulatory
requirements in the name of increased competition. Although he disagrees
with Hollings' regulatory approach to increasing broadband penetration
and use, Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson said that "...we both want the same
thing, and that's competition in the marketplace."
[SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23113-2002May2.html)
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