Blaine Harden’s article in today’s Washington Post extolling the virtues of Japan’s broadband deployment reads like a bad knockoff of the 90’s thriller “Rising Sun”? The facts are muddled together in a way that suggests we should drop what we are doing and follow the Japanese model. Of course, they also suggested this in “Rising Sun”? Too bad the Japanese economy collapsed leaving us solely with a so-so action picture starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.
Muddling together a different regulatory framework with different geographic and technological realities paints a picture of despair that will no doubt be used by sound bite opportunists to take cheap shots at America’s broadband deployment. The piece suggests that compelling phone and cable companies to open up their wires to Internet providers would lead to an explosion in broadband. But we’ve already seen an explosion in broadband in the U.S. triggered by government policies based on market-based competition.
NextGenWeb recently spoke with Dr. Marvin Sirbu, professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Sirbu co-authored a study on the importance of broadband to job creation and the economy. Click below to see his interview where he tells NextGenWeb about the positive impact broadband has on businesses and productivity.
NextGenWeb spoke with State Rep. Charlie Hoffman, co-Chair of the Kentucky Broadband Task Force on the ConnectKentucky model. We discussed how they mapped coverage levels throughout the state, public /private partnerships and how they encourage providers to serve areas that are underserved.
NextGenWeb caught up with the brains behind the ConnectKentucky model, Brian Mefford, President and CEO of Connected Nation Inc. Brian talked about the importance of public/private partnerships as well as how other states can implement this program.
NextGenWeb recently covered the New Democratic Network event on its Globalization Initiative. The event was held in the U.S. Capitol and was headlined by Rep. John Larson (D-CT). Another speaker at the NDN forum was Misty Chase, Project Director for Beyond Tobacco in Greene County, NC. Misty shared the success story of how broadband and access to high speed Internet has changed the quality of life in a county that was once dominated only by agriculture.
NextGenWeb was on Capitol Hill recently attending the National Grange event on rural broadband and economic development. We caught up with Leroy Watson, Legislative Director for the National Grange to discuss the organization’s message to lawmakers on issues dealing with rural broadband access.
The US Internet Industry Association this week released a new report on eHealth and broadband networks. We were fortunate enough to speak to the author, David McClure, and you can hear his thoughts just below.
But I also wanted to highlight a few of the study’s key findings, particularly the important role broadband plays in the future of our nation’s e-health care delivery.
USIIA provides a succinct definition of eHealth: “health services and information delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies. €? Clearly, eHealth is one area where broadband deployment is not just a good idea — it’s a critical element of success.
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