Connected Health Symposium
The Conference Center at Harvard Medical
Boston, MA
October 27-28, 2008

Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend
Washington, DC
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
September 24-27, 2008

Home Broadband Adoption 2008
Pew Internet & American Life Project
July 2008

• Home broadband adoption increased from 47% from March 2007 to 55% in April 2008.
• Respondents age 50 and over reported a 26% growth in broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008.
• Monthly broadband bills are 4% lower in May 2008 than at the end of 2005, but monthly dial-up bills have risen.

Click here to read the full study.

Matt Stoller has ties to organizations with some pretty catchy titles  €¦. Internet for Everyone, Save the Internet.   But after reading his latest comments I wonder if he really is interested in an Internet for everyone.

Matt says in one of his most recent posts that Save the Internet has always been about broadband deployment.

Okay, let’s assume that is true.    

For all the talk about the Internet being a cool place to swap music, watch movies and upload videos (which it is), it’s real benefits lie within more accessible and affordable health care, including access to specialty doctors which in many instances is a matter of life and death, especially for rural Americans.   What about the single mom who can take classes online at night after she puts her child to bed?   Or the ability to reduce our rather large carbon footprint by participating in eWork programs that so many businesses (and even government — go Gov. Kaine) are starting to employ?   The Internet is not a silver bullet, but it is part of the solution to some of the biggest challenges facing America.  

So, you would think that somebody who believes in the true spirit of what the Internet can mean to our quality of life certainly would be thrilled when looking at a state like Kentucky.   Rural definitely fits the picture here.   Through the Connect Kentucky program (which despite Stoller’s depictions is a public-private partnership), Kentucky went local, brought people together and now boasts over 90% connectivity.  

Great!   Right?   Well, not according to the “champion” of universal access, Matt Stoller:  

“We’ve killed Connect Kentucky, the major model for the telecoms to drive to universal broadband.”

So wait, the telecoms are involved in broadband deployment?   Oh wait, of course they are.   And that’s a bad thing?   Really?   These are the monsters that invested $70 billion last year in North American infrastructure upgrades.   Oh yeah, and the same ones who this year are throwing a paltry $60 billion in a continued effort to get broadband out.  

So I wonder why Stoller is bragging about how Save the Internet “killed Connect Kentucky.”  And I would think after their article today on Connect Kentucky the Wall Street Journal is also curious.   Ann Carnes writes:

“ConnectKentucky’s efforts, funded 90% by the state and 10% by private businesses and foundations, show how public-private partnerships, as well as a willingness by local governments to work with less-established telecommunications providers, can drive increased access to high-speed Internet service and spur economic development.”

Bottom line, broadband deployment is important. It is technical and it is expensive.   And our federal budget (let alone state governments) sure can’t finance what it takes to build these networks. The innovative partnerships that stemmed from the private sector working with local communities and government is what made Connect Kentucky possible.   These types of partnerships have proved to be valuable not only in broadband deployment, but in identifying solutions to other challenges communities face, like education and public safety.   So I still wonder, what does Stoller mean?  

Internet for Everyone?   Apparently not.

If you’d prefer not to sit in traffic for hours on end each day (and pay over $4 per gallon to fill up your tank) then read this blog!   As the Washington Post pointed out on Sunday, people more and more are starting to take advantage of telecommuting options.   Over broadband connections to the Internet, workers can log-on from telework centers closer to where they live and spend more time at home with their families while still staying on top of their work responsibilities.     Quick recap  €¦ significant cost-savings at the gas pump, more time with my kids, while maintaining productivity at work.   Where do I sign!

Sunday’s Post article points to some great aspects of telecommuting and reasons why more and more Americans are ditching their cars in favor of working from home.   An important caveat however is missing from the article — and that is without BROADBAND telecommuting would not exist.   High-speed, high-capacity connections to the Internet allow 21st century workers to stay productive at home, at a local telework center or at any connected coffee or sandwich shop down the street.  

Thanks to $60 billion in communications infrastructure investments last year and another round of $60 billion this year by nearly 1,400 ISPs currently operating in the United States,   people are now able to save money, increase their productivity, and lessen their carbon footprint, all simultaneously.  

Now, with a promise of increased cost savings and productivity, many employers are embracing the benefits of telecommuting. Some have taken a huge step in the right direction, such as the federal government’s General Services Administration, which recently announced a plan “to have 50 percent of its eligible employees telecommuting from home or at a center at least one day a week by the end of 2010.”

Want to learn more about the benefits of telecommuting and the pro-investment policies making them possible?   Look no further than NextGenWeb for all the information you need on how telecommuting can improve our lives, ease our pain at the pump and enhance our environment €”all in a day’s work.

Click the window below to view the archive footage of a debate sponsored by the Democrat Leadership Council and the Congressional Institute on our nation’s energy policy.

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

On Monday, the FCC held a hearing on “Broadband and the Digital Future” at Carnegie Mellon University.   Perhaps a more appropriate title for the FCC’s next hearing would be “Broadband is the Future.”

During these times of economic uncertainty, all American families are struggling to fill the gas tank, make the tuition payment and afford health care.  

There is hope.   This year alone, nearly 1,400 American broadband providers will invest an estimated $60 billion to expand the capacity and reach of the nation’s communications infrastructure.   This investment far outweighs what the U.S. government spent to put Neil Armstrong on the moon.   Even when combining what we spent to build out the interstate highway system, you still don’t achieve the level of investment we’re seeing in broadband networks today.

We’re just beginning to understand the “Broadband Economy” of the future.   But here’s what we do know.  

• Broadband-based remote monitoring for all chronically ill patients could reduce U.S. health care expenses by 25% €”a $350 billion annual savings.
• Telecommuting takes cars off the road and could deliver $3.9 billion in time and fuel cost savings annually.
• Using electronics to telecommute saves the equivalent of 9 to 14 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, the same amount of energy used by roughly 1 million U.S. households every year.
• Over 70% of low-income individuals reported an improvement in schoolwork when given access to broadband.
• Just a 7% increase in broadband adoption could create 2.4 million U.S. jobs.

America can and is doing more to make this future a  reality.   Here’s hoping our nation’s future broadband policies encourage this progress €”and the substantive, diverse private investment that is making it possible.  

Employers Should Help Clean the Air
Dalls Morning News
July 20, 2008

Click here to read the full article

Telecommuting Proposed For State Workers
The News-Times
July 16, 2008

Click here to read the full article.

Kentucky’s Governor Encourages 4-Day Weeks To Save Gas Costs
Huntington, WV Herald Dispatch
July 15, 2008

Click here to read the full article.