A panel of experts gathered at the United States Capitol earlier this week to share their perspectives on the best policies to facilitate broadband access and adoption in the Latino community.  The session was a part of the Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) conference.  LISTA advocates for Latinos in the science and technology fields.

As the President of ASPIRA Robert Blackburn-Moreno noted in his introduction, “we must be literate, capable, and trained in broadband or we risk permanent second class citizenship.”  With Latinos falling behind in national broadband adoption rates (45% for Hispanic communities vs. a 65% average), most of the panelists urged for policies that focus on investment and adoption, and avoiding current distractions like broadband reclassification and Network neutrality.

Gus West from the Hispanic Institute urged policymakers to consider Hispanics in implementation of the National Broadband Plan.  West expressed deep concern with the FCC’s announcement to reclassify broadband.  West says these efforts pose serious risks for service providers and worse as will delay delivery of services where they are needed the most.  “We must focus on connecting our communities to the economic and social backbone of broadband.”

David Honig, President and CEO of the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) agreed, noting that many civil rights organizations have come together against Net neutrality for the reasons outlined above.  He believes additional regulations will only protect the top 2% of bandwidth, as costs will shift to lower bandwidth users, which could hinder adoption.

Watch the video below for more from David Honig.  And Click here for more information on broadband and the Latino community.

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This week, Latino leaders from across the country descended on Washington for the 3rd Annual Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) Tech Latino Legislative Forum. The two-day event kicked off with an opening reception that featured keynote remarks by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

Chairman Genachowski’s remarks focused on the impact that broadband is having on Latino communities in the form of job creation and economic opportunity, increased access to education and quality healthcare, and the ability to connect with distant family and loved ones. He also highlighted the recently released National Broadband Plan and the importance of continuing to strive towards the goal of universal broadband adoption in the United States. And central to that goal of universal deployment and adoption, according to the Chairman, is the need to “incentivize and increase investment in…broadband infrastructure, and reduce barriers to investment.”

Following Chairman Genachowski’ remarks, we had the chance to interview Jason Llorenz, Senior Policy Advisor at the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL), to gauge his reaction. Llorenz praised the Chairman for his remarks on how broadband is impacting jobs, education, healthcare, while stating that the policies that are going to be developed today will greatly affect the country in the future. He also called on discussions around broadband to be focused on adoption and digital literacy first, before moving on to topics such as Internet regulation that could create instability.

Click below to watch archived footage of Chairman Genachowski’s remarks, along with NextGenWeb’s interview with Jason Llorenz of NHCSL.

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Esta semana se reunieron en Washington, DC lideres de la comunidad Latina de todo el país para trabajar para las leyes en nombre de la Asociación de Latinos para la Tecnología por la tercera vez. El evento duró dos dias empezando con una recepción que presentó el encargado de asuntos de tecnología, el Presidente de la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones, Julius Genachowski.

Hacer clic abajo para ver los comentos del Presidente Genachowski, a lo largo de la entrevista de NextGenWeb con Jason Llorenz del Cónclave Nacional Hispano de Legisladores Estatales.

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Yesterday, technology and telecom companies came together to form the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). The group includes heavy-weights with diverse membership from AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, DISH Network, Echo Star, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft, Time Warner and Verizon.

Under the direction of former FCC Chief Technologist, Professor Dale Hatfield, TAG’s goal is to work together to create guidelines that quickly resolve technical problems and generally bring compromise to broadband network practices. In an effort to minimize policy disputes, TAG hopes to help educate U.S. policymakers. The move is also focused at creating open dialogue between policy makers, federal agencies, companies and broadband users.

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It was clear following the recent DC Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Comcast that the Net neutrality debate was about to change. How it would change, and what new issues might emerge however was anyone’s guess. Then came FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s speech on the agency’s plans to expand its regulatory power through what it dubbed a “Third Way” approach. Immediately the debate shifted toward a conversation focused on why 1930’s-era common carrier principles would ever need to be applied to the Internet. And the question of FCC authority remains an elephant in the room as these debates press on and Congress prepares to get off the sideline.

Today, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) joined with the Free State Foundation to host a panel discussion aimed at finding answers to some of these questions. Beginning with the first panelist and moving through to the last, one thing was clear – the conversation has indeed shifted. As Jim Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President of External and Legal Affairs for AT&T, put it, with their May 5 announcement, the FCC managed to take a debate that had been headed towards likely resolution to a debate concerning authority and jurisdiction. Simply put, they took the oxygen out of the room, and managed to take attention away from important issues in the National Broadband Plan.

Richard Bennett, Research Fellow at ITIF, echoed Cicconi’s remarks, stating, “The National Broadband Plan put an emphasis on the so-called national purposes. This is where the policy focus should be. This discussion would allow us to put oxygen back into a room that antidiscrimination disputes had taken out.”

With the title of the panel asking a forward-looking question – what’s next for Net neutrality – the panelists did their best to offer a prognosis. All agreed that the FCC’s push to lock down the Internet with common carrier regulations is a non-starter. From their perspective, looking forward means setting goals and working towards achieving those goals, such as increasing broadband adoption, raising digital literacy rates, and deploying broadband to the last 5% of the population without it.

Those are goals everyone can rally around – and with the FCC’s release of the National Broadband Plan earlier this year, and through our conversations with members of their broadband team, we feel safe in saying that the agency is on board with tackling those goals.

An effort that would be aided greatly by getting some oxygen back in the room.

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Blair Levin, former director of the FCC’s Omnibus Broadband Initiative and now a Fellow with the Aspen Institute, spoke this week at a Broadband Breakfast event.  Levin shared his pride in the creation of the National Broadband Plan and also his secret inspiration for it (which is no longer so secret).

Levin referred to an old Apple ad from the late 80’s in which one office executive asks another “which computer do you think is the most powerful?”  The other responds “I think it’s the one people actually use.”  Levin’s point, which is well – taken, is that the important thing is not the numbers, but how people use broadband.

The conversation continued with a panel of key industry officials representing Canada, Korea, the UK, and other parts of Europe, moderated by Lynn Stanton, Senior Editor of TR Reports.   The panelists echoed support for the plan and shared their respective countries’ stories of broadband success.   You can watch the Broadband Breakfast, titled “International Perspectives on the U.S. National Broadband Plan,” in its entirety below.

International Perspectives on the U.S. National Broadband Plan from Broadband Breakfast on Vimeo.

Today, Phoebe Yang, General Counsel for the Omnibus Broadband Initiative at the FCC, joined a panel titled “The Future of Broadband” that was hosted by the CQ-Roll Call Group.  Yang wanted to focus on two calls to action in the broadband plan.  First, she believes the national priorities are key because of how they will benefit Americans. Yang cited that 62% of American workers rely on the Internet to do their jobs, and then touched on just some of the opportunities broadband creates in the education and public safety sectors.  Her second focus is making broadband ubiquitous, which led to the establishment of the Connect America and Mobility Funds to help with access to the unserved.

NextGenWeb will continue to follow the challenges and successes as the FCC continues to move into the implementation phase of the National Broadband Plan.

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On Tuesday, April 12, the Mabuhay Alliance hosted a summit in Los Angeles titled, “Minorities Leading the Broadband Revolution.” Discussions focused on how minority communities are harnessing the power of broadband and how broadband can impact those communities. The panel featured Nancy Ryan of the California Public Utilities Commission, Elva Lima, Vice President of Strategic Programs at Verizon, Chris Boyer, Assistant Vice President of Public Policy at AT&T, and Inez Gonzalez, Executive Vice President of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

Two key themes presented themselves during the panel discussion – investment and digital literacy. Elva Lima talked about how private investment in broadband infrastructure is helping minority communities by giving them affordable access to broadband. She also stressed the importance of partnerships between broadband providers and local organizations to ensure that the community understands the value of broadband. This is especially significant in that recent studies show “relevance” as a primary barrier to adoption.

When asked what the power of broadband meant to him, Chris Boyer stated that he sees broadband in three basic terms. First, broadband is an enabler. Broadband allows for online applications that benefit almost every industry, including healthcare, the environment, public safety, education, and the economy. Second, broadband is a necessary tool that changes the way we go about our daily business. And third, broadband means investment. In California alone, AT&T invested over $7 billion in broadband infrastructure between 2007-2009. This level of investment not only means more people with access to broadband, but also job creation and growth. See more below in our interview following the event with Boyer.

Inez Gonzalez focused on the transformative power of broadband for minority communities, including giving them access to more jobs and financial aid. While Gonzalez cites price as another barrier to adoption, as we mentioned earlier price rarely makes it to the top of the page on the reasons why the non-adopters choose not to sign-up for high-speed Internet service. One of those reasons, digital literacy, is something Gonzalez elaborates on in our interview below, to include the importance of everyone in the community playing a role in helping people understand the life-enhancing benefits of broadband.

Stay tuned for future coverage of the Mabuhay Alliance Summits. The next one will take place in Chicago, IL on May 22, 2010.

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Usually we at NextGenWeb are the ones conducting the interviews, so I was thrilled to be on the other side of the questions recently with the Tech & The District blog.  As part of their series titled Tech in 5, the Hill & Knowlton bloggers do video interviews with players in the technology, policy, and PR space.  Past interviews have featured Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro, Hillicon Valley’s Kim Hart, and National Journal’s Andrew Noyes.

Watch the interview below to learn more about the benefits of the National Broadband Plan, next steps for moving the Plan forward, and even trends we’re seeing with broadband in the classroom!

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On Thursday, April 8 the Media Institute hosted their April installment of the Communications Forum. Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus delivered the keynote address. Click below to watch archived footage of the event.

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The Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus hosted an event in the Capitol building on Monday to address actualizing the National Broadband Plan.  Moderated by Communications Daily reporter Adam Bender, the panelists below addressed the opportunities and challenges that both Congress and the FCC will face to take the next steps with this landmark plan.

• Michael Calabrese, New America Foundation
• Rick Cimerman, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
• Barbara Esbin, Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF)
• Derek Turner, Free Press

Panelists agreed that the plan was very comprehensive, offered innovative suggestions to reach goals, and that there are portions of agreement that can and should be acted on immediately.  NCTA’s Cimerman specifically applauded the plan for removing barriers to deployment, reforming universal service, and for embracing national purposes as the key to widespread broadband adoption.  Of course, as PFF’s Esbin said, the devil will be in the details, further noting it has not been decided whether there will be “extreme makeover” legislation or if we will continue with a piecemeal approach.

Panelists also agreed that they expect the FCC to move fairly rapidly on the broadband plan, noting the significant time, budget and expertise that was invested even just to this point, in addition to broadband being a top priority for the FCC Chairman.   New America Foundation’s Calabrese told attendees that he expects the FCC to release a schedule this week with a broadband plan roadmap, with maybe 40 proceedings over the next 12 months.  We’ll be keeping an eye out for that!

Watch the video below for panelist Barbara Esbin’s takeaways from the event, as well as her support for Tom Tauke of Verizon’s recent call for a new policy framework for the Internet.

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Next Gen Web joined some of Washington’s heaviest hitters yesterday at an Innovation and Jobs Roundtable hosted by the Democratic Leadership Council. The panelists, ranging from high-level Obama Administration officials to private-sector business leaders, all made one thing clear: high-speed broadband deployment is crucial to creating new jobs and jumpstarting the economy.

DLC Chairman Harold Ford Jr. opened the event, saying that innovation will be the driver of new jobs. He introduced the first panelist, US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who expanded on this message. Secretary Locke said he has a goal to make the entire economy more innovative, citing specific proposals to create more “clusters of innovation” like Silicon Valley or the Raleigh Research Triangle, should the FY ’11 budget pass. But to accomplish this, he stressed the importance of robust, high-speed Internet across the country.

Getting into details, Secretary Locke explained that about $4.5 Billion of the nearly $7.2 Billion allocated for broadband expansion in the FY ’11 federal budget will be distributed by the Commerce Department. The Dept. will channel this money first towards underserved and un-served communities by building out high speed infrastructure. Only then, he said, will the private sector be able to connect high-speed broadband with users, a process he called building the middle-mile of high speed internet.

Small Business Administration (SBA) head Karen Mills echoed the Secretary, citing SBA goals to increase innovation. Infrastructure and innovation are the foundations for helping small business, she said.

US. Representative Betsy Markey (D-CO) spoke to the role innovation plays in stimulating local economies, saying high-speed broadband access is critical to “unleash the talent of rural America.”

AT&T Vice President Xavier Matthews closed the program, repeating the mantra “invest and innovate.” Referencing the Internet Ecosystem, Matthews explained that investment by the private Information and Technology sector creates jobs not only within the industry, but also creates new industries (with new jobs to offer) and allows small businesses to reinvent themselves. Shifting the focus to long term investment in broadband is vital to economic and job growth opportunities, Matthews said.

Public and private sector leaders agreed yesterday that innovation is the key factor to job growth, and high-speed broadband is necessary for innovation. A DLC report on display yesterday, “Where Jobs Come From: The Role of Innovation, Investment, and Infrastrucutre in Economic and Job Growth,” is worth reading for more insight on the subject.

Watch interviews with AT&T Vice President Xavier Matthews and DLC CEO Bruce Reed.

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