Highlights from the APT Webcast on State Broadband Efforts

Kudos keep coming in to APT for Monday’s webcast on “State Efforts to Expand Broadband Access.” You can still catch the program at http://www.nga.org/webcast and coverage of the event by Communications Daily can be found here. It was based on APT’s recently released state report and NGA’s issue brief and featured:

• An overview of state initiatives from Erin Lee of NGA’s Center for Best Practices;
• A broadband policy overview from APT President Kenneth R. Peres;
• The Connected Tennessee program and its strategies for broadband deployment and adoption with Director Michael Ramage; and
• Virginia’s broadband deployment strategy with Karen Jackson, Director of the Commonwealth’s Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance program.

There was general agreement on the following points:

• Economic Benefits - A comprehensive broadband strategy will address the current economic crises by stimulating investment, jobs and output. It can address short term and long term economic recovery and growth particularly in rural areas, and speed the transformation of our economy for the long run benefit of everyone. In the short term it is helping the economy. In the long term, applications in areas such as health care and education are saving money.
  
  
• Current Status - Broadband applications are improving our quality of life in many areas, but there are still gaps in access.
  
  
• State Strategies - States have taken a variety of approaches for stimulating broadband deployment and adoption, including: task forces; tax incentives; public-private partnerships; state networks; and grants. A comprehensive approach works best.
  
  
• There are 5 basic elements to a comprehensive strategy:
  • Assessment of where broadband is available and where it is not through data collection and mapping;
  • Establishment of goals and benchmarks to determine where we should be and measure success;
  • Adoption of policies to create incentives for stimulating investment and access;
  • Establishment of policies to stimulate broadband adoption and use; and
  • Implementation by a lead agency with assessment and review for accountability and ongoing recommendations.
• Funding is needed for the Broadband Data Collection Act (S.1492) which addresses these elements and will give other states the ability to implement programs.
  
  
• Adoption is as important as deployment. Education is needed on the value of broadband technology and programs to provide hardware for low-income households.

APT Announces “Tell the Next President” Contest Winners

After sorting through close to 2000 entries, the Alliance for Public Technology (APT) has announced the winners of the Tell the Next President How Broadband Changed Your Life! contest.

First prize went to Nancy Reid, a rural Virginia woman who utilized broadband to attend college and switch careers after losing her job as a truck driver. Nancy spoke to Congressional staffers at a briefing announcing the winners on December 4, where she urged members of Congress to "think of me" when considering broadband policy initiatives.

Second prize went to Joanna Romanyshyn, who used broadband to raise awareness and usage of emergency medical services at Virginia Tech; and third prize went to Jeanette Landin, a Californian adult educator who used broadband to train adults for 21st century careers and informed participation in the democratic process. Honorable mention went to Martha Mowatt, who works with ALS patients in the Midwest and has been a part of the revolution in remote medial examinations.

The full entries for all the prize winners can be found here:
http://www.apt.org/BB-changed-my-life/2008-finalists.pdf

Joy Howell
Director
Broadband Changed My Life! Campaign

Joy Howell Discusses Broadband on CNN Radio

Joy Howell did a CNN Radio interview Tuesday, Nov. 25, that was broadcast on CNN radio stations coast to coast. The topic was what could be done to encourage more broadband deployment and adoption and whether President-elect Barack Obama would implement such policies. Howell, director of APT’s Broadband Changed My Life! Campaign, discussed the campaign’s “Tell the Next President Contest” for which several hundred people have written in to share the stories of how broadband changed their lives. They have shared stories of distance learning, getting online degrees via broadband, using technology to get medical care from physicians thousands of miles away for management of chronic conditions and diagnostic services, or for those with limited mobility to reach out and touch the outside world. The U.S. should get broadband to citizens nationwide regardless of where they live.

Broadband Deployment; The Challenge for the New Administration

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) hosted a panel discussion last week on broadband competition, which was moderated by Rob Atkinson, president of ITIF and the chair of APT’s Public Policy Committee.  While their has been $70 billion spent by telecom and cable providers to deploy broadband resulting in greater penetration, competition, speed and pricing, there are many areas of the country that are still unserved or underserved. The challenge for the next Administration is how to develop policies that will foster deployment and encourage adoption by all communities.

Congress Should Include Broadband in Economic Stimulus

As talk of a possible recession grows, so too does consider­ation of a second economic fiscal stimulus package. Rather than craft a conventional spending-oriented stimulus pack­age focused solely on tax cuts for individuals and spending increases, Congress should craft a stimulus package of which at least a portion not only gives a quick shot in the arm to the economy but at the same time also boosts investments that spur productivity growth and in­novation, especially in information and communication technology, which has been the engine of U.S. economic growth for the past de­cade.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation recently called on Congress to include a program to help low income families purchase a computer and afford broadband in 2009. There is increasing evidence that having an Internet-connected computer at home increases education per­formance. Yet, as of 2007 approximately one quarter of American households with children under the age of 18 did not have an Internet-connected computer at home. And for children living in households with incomes less than $30,000, 49 percent did not own a computer in their homes. Moreover, not having a computer at home is one of the major factors limiting broadband take up in the United States and is a reason why the United States ranks just 15th in broadband adoption of the 30 OECD nations.

To spur broadband deployment and computer adop­tion among families with children, ITIF proposed that Congress should allocate $735 million to help 1.5 million low income households afford to purchase a computer and get subsidized broadband service for one year. This pro­gram could be administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which currently is charged with administrating the subsidy program to help low income individuals and families afford the price of telephone installation and monthly charges. Currently, it provides a subsidy of 50 percent of the cost of installing a phone and about the same rate of subsidy for basic monthly telephone service. To qualify for the broadband program, individuals would have to qualify for the Lifeline/Linkup program and have at least one child under the age of 18 living at home. As with the Lifeline/Linkup program, broadband service provid­ers would be the ones to directly relate to consumers, and would submit reimbursements to the USAC for half the costs of the computers they sell to customers and monthly broadband services for one year. In this case, the money would be first-come, first-serve. In addition, groups such as ConnectedNation and One Economy that work to bring digital opportunity to dis­advantaged communities and individuals could market the program to individuals that they work with.

Posted by:
Robert D. Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Chair, APT Public Policy Committee

FCC Wireless Decision Will Promote Broadband Access

The Federal Communications Commission’s decision to allow wireless devices to operate in open broadcast television spectrum or “white spaces” is very promising for areas that are unserved or underserved in the market for broadband services. Everyone in our nation should have access to the life-enhancing benefits of broadband and this decision can help move us closer to that goal.

Posted by Robert D. Atkinson
APT Public Policy Committee

New "Tell the Next President" Contest Prize Added

Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the "Tell the Next President How Broadband Changed My Life." We are still in the process of reviewing entries, and we expect to announce the winners shortly!

Some of you are YouTube and video fans and may want to submit an entry for the recently added prize of $250 for best video of how broadband changed your life. To enter this competition, simply take your written entry for the Tell the Next President contest and use it to create a brief video on the same topic. Then take advantage of the opportunities broadband offers to post your video on YouTube and send us the link to your video. Please also send a written script of your video for transcribing purposes. Email the YouTube link and the written script to Joy Howell at joy@cambridgestrategicpartners.org.

The most original and compelling YouTube video detailing how broadband changed your life will win a $250 cash prize! We look forward to reviewing your video submissions.

Joy Howell
Campaign Director
Broadband Changed My Life!^TM

Tech Blog Highlights APT Broadband Changed My Life!TM Contest

Thanks to Ray Schroeder for sharing his excitement about our ‘Tell The Next President' contest on his blog, The Techno-News Blog.  In addition to be a  blogger on tech news, Ray is the Director, Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning, University of Illinois at Springfield.

Joy Howell Interviewed on CNN Radio

Joy Howell, director of APT’s Broadband Changed My Life!^TM Campaign, was interviewed by CNN Radio on Thursday, September 4th for a story about why we need to have more broadband. The interviewer asked Howell to describe APT’s mission to educate consumers and policymakers on the benefits of universal broadband. In a five minute interview, she described the ways that broadband is changing people’s lives--from the mother who talks to her son in Iraq every Saturday night by broadband video, to the pastor with a disability who said “broadband gave me wings”, to the doctors who examine and monitor patients in their distant homes and clinics.

Howell also talked about the recent Pew study showing that 40 percent of those who could have broadband do not think they need it or want it. That demonstrates that there is a need for consumer education about the ways that broadband can transform people’s lives.

The Broadband Changed My Life!^TM campaign is focused on educating policymakers and consumers about the many benefits of broadband. As part of the campaign, APT is sponsoring a contest around the theme of “Tell the Next President” is now underway. It is designed to encourage people to tell their personal stories. You may enter the contest by going to www.broadbandchangedmylife.org.

A Broadband Goal for the Next Administration

At a Roundtable Forum on Competitiveness and Innovation in Denver, New Democrat Coalition Vice-Chair Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) told the audience that “we need to close the broadband gap... we need government policies that recognize that innovation is important.” I couldn’t agree more, universal broadband should be a goal of the next Administration. We need to make sure that everyone has access to the high speed communication network that is altering every aspect of our lives.

Joy Howell
Director
Broadband Changed My Life!^TM Campaign