Why You Should Pay Attention to the National Broadband Plan - NYTimes.com

Broadband is an important channel for communications; not just for economic reasons but also for security and safety purposes. Follow the embedded link to read about how Australia is approaching national broadband.

The Federal Communications Commission will open up on Wednesday a Notice of Inquiry for the forthcoming National Broadband Plan, kicking off what interim FCC chair Michael Copps calls “an open, participatory, public process.” I hope it is, but traditionally our citizens have been quicker to complain to the providers of web-based services than to the agency that regulates the pipes over which such services are delivered. For those of you who want to participate (and don’t want to let Verizon or AT&T lobbyists dominate the conversation), I encourage you to file a comment.

The FCC does read them. When the agency solicited comments on the issue of Comcast blocking P2P files, it received thousands of them, some of which significantly influenced the proceedings. And the issue at stake with the National Broadband Plan is, quite frankly, far more important. The commission is expected to issue a series of questions in the hopes of figuring out where the U.S. currently stands with regard to broadband penetration and where it should go in terms of access technologies and speeds.

Why You Should Pay Attention to the National Broadband Plan - NYTimes.com