[RTC List] National Broadband policy discussion

[Josh Koenig]

Actually Democratic with a capital D is the correct way to refer to  
members of the political party in the plural.

"Democrat" outside of the singular noun ("A Democrat") is a spin phrase:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(phrase)

-j

> Lets get semantics correct it is not "democratic" .It is democrat.
> Todd
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sean McLaughlin
> To: RTC
> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 8:57 AM
> Subject: [RTC List] National Broadband policy discussion
>
>
> Aloha Folks -
>
> Don't hold your breath, but here's a report on the U.S. Senate  
> hearing by Committee on Small Business and  Entrepreneurship  
> yesterday that offers some perspective for our State's Broadband  
> Task Force efforts.
> ____________________________________________   Where is Our  
> National Broadband, Senate Asks ARTICLE DATE: 09.26.07 PCMAG.com By  
> Chloe Albanesius Two Democratic FCC commissioners on Wednesday  
> called for a national broadband summit to discuss the U.S. high- 
> speed Internet penetration rate, blaming its slow rollout on a lack  
> of cohesive data and a reliance on marketplace conditions rather  
> than government-sponsored initiatives. "The mindset that we have …  
> to work under [at the FCC] is 'don't worry about it, the  
> marketplace will take care of this,'" said FCC Commissioner Michael  
> Copps. "While we all revere the marketplace, there are some things  
> that cannot get done by themselves." "We have consolidation, lack  
> of competition, … prices are shooting up, there are no alternatives  
> for small businesses," said Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "One  
> way to start is a summit on broadband" that would include the  
> public and private sectors, Congress, the executive branch,  
> agencies like the FCC, he said. Copps and Adelstein appeared before  
> the Senate Small Business Committee to discuss how improved  
> Internet access would help small businesses. It was convened by  
> Committee Chairman John Kerry, D- Mass., who slammed the White  
> House for not following through on its 2004 pledge to have  
> universal broadband by the end of 2007. "You need tax credits, you  
> need grants, you need the universal service fund," Adelstein said.  
> "You need the FCC to promote incentive policies and opportunities  
> to invest."  President Bush "has yet to put policies in place that  
> will realize this goal," Kerry said. White House support is of  
> utmost importance, Copps said. "I think a speech from on high  
> saying that this is the infrastructure challenge of the 21st  
> century," he said. "A goal is always welcome, but it has to be  
> accompanied by a strategy and informed tactics." One of those  
> tactics should be a different regulatory strategy, according to the  
> commissioners. The current regulatory structure is written for a  
> telecom industry ruled by competing Bell telephone companies, a  
> scenario that no longer exists, Copps said. A major roadblock to a  
> comprehensive overhaul is lack of usable data. "Our current efforts  
> are woefully out-of-date and out-of-whack," Copps said. "We need a  
> more credible definition of speed [than the current 200 kilobits  
> per second for broadband] and more granular measures of deployment,  
> as well as to start gathering data on price and the experience of  
> other nations." Current FCC broadband maps are "a disgrace,"  
> Adelstein said. He pointed to a small business owner in Chicago who  
> recently mapped the city's broadband coverage using publicly  
> available data providers have on their Web sites. If he can create  
> these maps, "why can't the federal government do it?" Adelstein  
> asked. Adelstein said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who was not  
> present, "is committed to ensuring we get better data." Data  
> collection and broadband rollout has had some success at the state  
> level with programs like ConnectKentucky and ConnectMaine. Copps  
> acknowledged that the government has probably "federalized too  
> much" in the telecom industry and "taken away authority from the  
> states." Nonetheless, the federal government should be able to  
> handle data collection, he said. "Getting nationwide data on  
> broadband is a perfectly legitimate exercise for the FCC," Copps  
> said. "It's something we should have done a long time ago."  
> Adelstein praised cities like Fort Wayne, Ind. for their broadband  
> efforts, "but what does that mean for Gary or South Bend?" he  
> asked. "Can't we have ConnectAmerica?" Sen. Kerry and the  
> committee's ranking Republican, Olympia Snowe of Maine, voiced  
> support for the broadband summit. "Each branch of government has to  
> understand exactly what it's going to require through timelines and  
> benchmarks," Snowe said. "There should be a national broadband  
> strategy." Kerry echoed that sentiment in a recent blog post  
> (http:// www.savetheinternet.com/blog/?p=218) on FreePress.org.  
> Kerry also expressed an interest in calling the two Republican FCC  
> commissioners and Chairman Martin before his panel to discuss the  
> topic. An inquiry to Kerry's press office as to whether they had  
> not been invited or simply could not attend Wednesday's hearing was  
> not answered by press time.  
> ____________________________________________ Sean McLaughlin  
> Executive Director Access Humboldt P.O. Box 157, Eureka, CA 95502  
> tel: 707-476-1798 dir: 707-476-2873 fax: 707-476-1702 cel:  
> 707-616-2381 e: seanm at accesshumboldt.net web: accesshumboldt.net  
> "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this  
> right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to  
> seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media  
> and regardless of frontiers." - Universal Declaration of Human  
> Rights, Article 19 (UN, 1948)
>
>
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Josh Koenig, Partner
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AIM: chap3josh
1-888-822-4273