Verizon calls for new broadband incentives

VERIZON CALLS FOR NEW BROADBAND INCENTIVES
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
The U.S. government should launch a new program that provides grants and loans for broadband providers to extend service to rural areas, said Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president for public affairs, policy, and communications. He pointed to ConnectKentucky as a model state program; it has provided 94% of Kentucky residents with broadband options. The rest of the nation likely won't reach U.S. President George Bush's goal of universal broadband access by the end of 2007, Tauke said. The U.S. needs to look at broadband incentive programs "sooner rather than later," he said. The new program proposed by Verizon could use some existing funding, including redirecting some funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which had a 2006 budget of $6.1 billion, he said. The RUS now subsidizes several types of utilities, including broadband, electricity, distance learning, and telemedicine. New funds may also be needed, Tauke said, although he didn't provide specific numbers at a press briefing. Part of the problem is there's no good measure of how many U.S. residents have access to broadband, Tauke said. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission released a report Jan. 31 saying 99 percent of all U.S. postal codes had at least one broadband provider, but critics have noted that the FCC would count a postal code if a provider offered service to just a handful of residents. Tauke called for a comprehensive study of what broadband gaps exist. "We just don't know today who has broadband and who doesn't," he said.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/12/HNverizonbroadbandincentives_1...

* Verizon Shifts Its Policy Focus To Boosting Broadband Deployment
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 2/12, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-RKZB1171483871353.html