Personal Democracy Forum: Battle over Broadband

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The Obama administration has called for a $7.1 billion upgrade of the nation's broadband Internet system as part of the Recovery Act, but it will be a tall order for the Federal Communications Commission to create a plan that satisfies both telecom companies and broadband advocacy groups. That was the takeaway message at a panel discussion of the broadband initiative at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York on Monday afternoon. Panelist Josh Silver, the executive director and co-founder of Free Press, ripped into his co-panelists, who represented the wireless and telecommunications industries. He accused them of price-gauging Americans on Internet service and monopolizing the industry rather than engaging in competitiveness and helping provide affordable access to the poor. "We're looking at industries which are protecting a very lucrative business model, and there are starting to be increasing numbers of people at the gates understanding that the ISP market should be competitive," Silver said. "We're talking about democracy," he added later in the discussion. "Can poor people see streaming video that calls out corruption in government and in business?" Co-panelists James Assey, executive vice president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Hank Hultquist, vice president for federal regulation at AT&T, did their best to be diplomatic and remained even keel in the face of a crowd that was largely against them.


Personal Democracy Forum: Battle over Broadband