<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'><br>----- Forwarded Message -----<br>From: "Susan Estrada" <susan@firstmile.us><br>To: "Franck Martin" <franck@avonsys.com><br>Sent: Monday, 2 March, 2009 10:28:53 AM (GMT+1200) Auto-Detected<br>Subject: Please Pass on to Whomever You Think Appropriate<br><br>
<title>Please Pass on to Whomever You Think Appropriate</title>
<font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Franck,<br>
<br>
Know you are interested in this info. This is an excellent summary of the US broadband stimulus. Feel free to share. <br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Susan<br>
-- <br>
Susan Estrada<br>
FirstMile.US<br>
Big Broadband Everywhere<br>
Phone: 760-510-8406 x1<br>
Web: <a href="http://www.firstmile.us" target="_blank">http://www.firstmile.us</a><br>
Blog: <a href="http://demandbroadband.blogspot.com" target="_blank">http://demandbroadband.blogspot.com</a><br>
<br>
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</span></font><font size="6"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><b>Putting the Angels in the Details: A Roadmap for Broadband Stimulus Success<br>
</b></span></font></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Submitted by Benton Foundation on February 26, 2009 - 1:30pm<br>
Originally published on: February 26, 2009<br>
Last updated: February 26, 2009 - 1:32pm<br>
Source: Free Press <<a href="http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/182" target="_blank">http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/182</a>> <br>
Author: S. Derek Turner <<a href="http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/1923" target="_blank">http://benton.org/taxonomy/term/1923</a>> <br>
PUTTING THE ANGELS IN THE DETAILS: A ROADMAP FOR BROADBAND STIMULUS SUCCESS<br>
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, signed into law last week by President Barack Obama, allocates $4.7 billion to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for broadband adoption and deployment in "unserved," "underserved" and low-income communities; $2.5 billion to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for rural broadband; and directs the Federal Communications Commission to develop a national broadband strategy. To ensure that these stimulus programs are successfully implemented, Free Press recommends the following: <br>
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</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1) Protect the open Internet: The NTIA and FCC should prohibit grant recipients from selling any service that violates open Internet principles and should require recipients to offer interconnection on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis. <br>
</span></font><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2) Promote speed: The NTIA should establish speed guidelines and benchmarks and require grant applicants to detail actual -- not advertised -- network speeds, with priority given to next-generation projects. <br>
</span></font><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3) Provide clarity: The NTIA and FCC should adopt definitions of unserved and underserved areas that are based on U.S. Census Bureau geographic boundaries (either census blocks, block groups or tracts), and are informed by new FCC broadband data. <br>
</span></font><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">4) Prevent waste: The NTIA should require grant applicants to provide extensive documentation showing how their proposed project qualifies as a new investment. <br>
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</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">5) Gather information: The FCC should immediately initiate proceedings to gather data and ideas to inform the national broadband strategy. <br>
</span></font><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">6) Focus resources: The NTIA should refocus the $350 million currently allocated for state broadband mapping toward projects that work to stimulate broadband demand, because the FCC is already collecting this data. <br>
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</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">7) Remove roadblocks: The RUS should eliminate current regulations that restrict broadband upgrades, create barriers to new entrants and undermine competition. <br>
</span></font><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
</span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">8) Ensure transparency: The NTIA and RUS should create a single, publicly accessible online database that hosts all the information relevant to the broadband projects funded by the Stimulus Act.<br>
<b>Links to Sources<br>
</b>Putting the Angels in the Details: A Roadmap for Broadband Stimulus Success <<a href="http://www.freepress.net/files/Angels_in_the_Details.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.freepress.net/files/Angels_in_the_Details.pdf</a>> <br>
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