[1st-mile-nm] President's 'Broadband for All' Mission Accomplished

[Richard Lowenberg]

I wasn't going to post this, as it is not April 1st, but...
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BUSH ADMINISTRATION: US BROADBAND GOAL NEARLY REACHED
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency
within the Commerce Department that acts as the president's principal
adviser on telecommunications and information policy issues, has released
a report, Networked Nation: Broadband in America, that offers an upbeat
assessment of the Administration's efforts to spur growth and competition
in the high-speed Internet market. Critics said the report's conclusion is
too rosy. The report concludes that "a reasonable assessment of the
available data indicates" that the objective of affordable access to
broadband for all by 2007 has been realized "to a very great degree." The
report relies on data from the Federal Communications Commission and other
sources. The FCC reported that at least one person in more than 99 percent
of all U.S. ZIP codes received broadband service from at least one
provider by the end of 2006. The report paints a picture of a broadband
environment that is becoming increasingly competitive, for which it
credits the president's policies. President Bush has promoted polices that
created "an environment in which broadband innovation and competition can
flourish," the report states. Among them: a freeze on state and local
taxes on Internet access; a policy of clearing airwaves for use by
commercial providers of wireless broadband service; and continuing efforts
to "clear away regulatory obstacles" that might thwart investment in new
technologies.


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Richard Lowenberg
P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110,  505-603-5200 cell

1st-Mile Institute
New Mexico Broadband Initiative
www.1st-mile.com
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