Top 10 Prescriptions for Getting Broadband Done

[Commentary] 1) Develop (and act on) the best plan you can write for getting broadband without one dollar of stimulus.

2) Partner with other communities.

3) Bring medical facilities, schools, colleges and other institutions onto your team of stakeholders.

4) Inoculate against incumbents behaving badly.

5) Incumbents are going to increase the use of local legislators to enable their attacks on community broadband so actively cultivate your own legislative support to enable you to deflect these attacks.

6) Put the heat on the state agencies responsible for broadband mapping projects -- especially on states relying on Connected Nation -- to include 2nd- and 3rd-sourced, independently validated broadband usage data.

7) If you want broadband available and affordable to all, competition is how you get it, and open access is a linchpin to increased competition.

8) Let's not get Alzheimer's regarding the urban underserved.

9) Communities and public-private partnerships need to seek out traditional investors.

10) Some small towns and counties may have to suck it up and secure a broadband future on their own.