WASHINGTON, Thursday, July 26, 2012 - Last week, the fourth year of the Broadband Breakfast Club Series came to an end with a timely panel on “Bringing Broadband Adoption to the Nation’s Underserved Population.” Panelists from the private, nonprofit and state government sectors came together to discuss what can be done to promote broadband usage in… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 20 2012 - Celebrating the fifth presidential cycle that the internet has played a role in the political campaign process, political pundits, strategists and communications experts came together Tuesday morning to analyze the next phase of the internet on the campaign trail. After 2008 and President Obama’s revolutionary use of social media to take… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2012 -- Last Thursday President Obama announced the launch of a new initiative, “US Ignite” and signed an Executive Order reducing the cost and barriers to broadband build out and construction along federal roadways and properties. The Order aims to make construction 90 percent cheaper and more efficient. The Federal Government owns approximately… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON Tuesday June 12, 2012 - Last week the Federal Communications Commission moved forward with white spaces reform free of challenges from the microphone industry, they took on special access reform and held a meeting of experts to address the future of wireless mHealth innovation. Broadbandbreakfast has some notes on each of these stories. … Keep Reading
WASHINGTON Thursday May 17 2012 – Nearly two years after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) broadband deployment and adoption projects were funded and the National Broadband Plan was adopted, we are still dealing with 100 million Americans who do not receive broadband in the home. While 65% of the population uses broadband, only… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON Thursday April 19, 2012 – First search, then social media, and now privacy concerns? The digital world has transformed the way consumers access content; one can search an article they are interested in, subscribe to Google Reader, follow a friend’s recommendation from Twitter or read an article a co worker read via the Washington… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON April 6, 2012 – Last week the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) announced their finding that 95 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum residing in the 1755-1850 MHz band can be repurposed for commercial wireless use. NTIA’s report was in response to a 2010 Memorandum from the president asking the Department of Commerce through NTIA to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday March 23, 2012 – On Tuesday March 20th federal regulatory administrators, state health and broadband officials and private health IT and technology experts met in Washington to discuss “Maximizing US Health IT and Broadband Investment” at BroadbandBreakfast.com’s monthly breakfast and panel discussion. In the session, the speakers agreed that there is both humanitarian and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 8th, 2012 – Last month Congress passed one of the more important pieces of legislation regarding the future of wireless access and innovation in our country. The bi partisan legislation has already garnered support from many of the stakeholders and parties involved. Given that we have not covered this legislation up to date,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 23, 2012 – Last week, after years of congressional hearings and dozens of legislative drafts, The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 S.2105. Senators Lieberman, Collins, Rockefeller and Feinstein introduced the bi-partisan legislation following a year of high profile cyberattacks on the Senate, CIA, FBI, Utility… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON February 20, 2012. Broadband Breakfast will host its February Breakfast Panel, Cybersecurity Legislation in Congress: Where Does it Stand?, the day before FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski delivers his remarks on cybersecurity at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Broadband Breakfast's panel will focus on the efforts to move cybersecurity on the Hill after years and years… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 27, 2012 – A couple weeks ago, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the FCC's Order to modernize the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline Program. In a week where almost all of the media’s attention was focused on new technologies and innovative gadgets at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Genachowski reminded the public… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON January 17, 2012 – BroadbandBreakfast.com kicked off a new year of the Broadband Breakfast Club fresh off the heals of the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas with a Breakfast on “The Wired Home and Wired Policy” featuring the Presidents of four major technology and telecommunications trade associations and the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau Chief of… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON December 14, 2011 – The FCC, the Hill and the Telecom industry has been busy over the last couple of weeks. Here is a wrap-up of the most important events. House Passes Spectrum Auction Incentive Bill After a 234-193 vote, the House Payroll Tax Extension Bill incorporated the full version of the Republican Incentive… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON December 8, 2011 – Wednesday TheHill.com reported that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission for it’s Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reform the Universal Service Fund and Intercarrier Compensation regime. The suit, filed in the 3rd Circuit, alleges that the FCC order is “arbitrary and capricious”… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 25 2011 – As we all sit and digest post Thanksgiving, Broadband Breakfast can finally wrap up some stories that we have been interested in over the past couple of weeks but have not had time to get around to. We wanted to draw attention to a couple of the stories below and… Keep Reading
Expert Contributors: Stephanie A. Joyce, Esq. and Stephen Thompson, Esq. WASHINGTON, November 18, 2011 - The development of SmartGrid technology, which generally refers to devices that monitor, and possibly control, energy use via telecommunications-enabled devices, is proceeding apace, though not as quickly as many had hoped or anticipated. At the most recent Broadband Breakfast that… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Wednesday November 15, 2011 - November’s breakfast and panel discussion drew a packed crowd Tuesday morning as industry lawyers, lobbyists and experts filed into Clyde’s to hear from the Whitehouse, telecoms, energy management companies and utilities about the challenges and efficiencies that lies ahead with “The Smart Grid and Broadband.” Event Highlights "The Smart Grid and Broadband" from BroadbandBreakfast.com Complete Program "The Smart Grid and Broadband" from BroadbandBreakfast.com Nick Sinai, Senior Advisor to White House’s Chief Technology Officer gave the opening remarks at the breakfast. Sinai focused on what the Obama administration is doing to support, secure and modernize the energy system for the country. He noted that although the current grid has expanded, it is fundamentally still an analog grid and has been that way since the beginning of the 20th century. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON Friday November 10, 2011. Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted 52 – 46 to defeat S.J Res 6 which would have overturned the Federal Communication Commissions Open Internet Rules. The rules are now set to go into effect on Nov 20, but they still face challenges in the courts from companies like Metro PCS, Verizon that… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Thursday November 10th 2011, The Federal Communications Commission’s Chairman Julius Genachowski announced what the Commission is touting as the “Biggest effort ever to help close the Digital Divide.” Following up on the launch of the Connect to Compete private and non profit sector partnership a couple of weeks ago, yesterday’s announcement at Langley Education… Keep Reading
WASHINGTONDC, Friday Nov 4th 2011. Seven months after the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 37 which prohibits the FCC from regulating how internet service providers manage their broadband networks, the Senate will take their shot at the Congressional Review Act measure to overturn the Commission’s Open Internet Rules. Today Senator John Kerry (D-MA),… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday October 28, 2011. Vice President & Associate General Counsel of NCTA, Steve Morris gave Broadband Breakfast his first impressions on yesterday’s USF Reform Proposal. Morris told us: The Chairman, the commissioners, and the FCC staff, all deserve a great deal of credit for bringing this item to completion. Universal service and intercarrier compensation… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday October 28, 2011. The Federal Communication Commission unanimously voted to overhaul its outdated the Universal Service Fund and reform its intercarrier compensation fund at yesterday morning’s Open Commission Meeting. The FCC predicts that an effort to expand high speed internet to rural America over the next six years, will increase economic growth by… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, DC October 24, 2011 - Forbes Mercy, President of Washington Broadband Inc and WISPA VP/ Legislative Chair shared some thoughts and comments with BroadbandBreakfast.com after our panel on “Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?” You can watch the video of the panel or check out Broadband Breakfast's summary below: http://broadbandbreakfast.com/2011/10/broadband-infrastructure-to-rural-areas-is-on-the-move-at-the-broadband-breakfast-club/… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 21, 2011 – Rural broadband providers, national union members, federal agency officials and state broadband administrators squared off on Tuesday at the Broadband Breakfast Club’s keynote and panel presentations on “Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?” Event Highlights
Highlights from "Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?" from BroadbandBreakfast.com
Complete Program"Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?" from BroadbandBreakfast.com
Keep ReadingWASHINGTON Monday October 17, 2011 - FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, CTIA The Wireless Association’s President and CEO Steve Largent and Consumers Union’s Policy Counsel Parul Desai held a press conference at Brookings Institute yesterday morning to announce new “Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines.” Building upon their Consumer Empowerment Agenda, the FCC has been working with… Keep Reading
Thursday October 13th 2011 - As BroadbandBreakfast.com gears up for our panel on “Bringing Broadband Infrastructure to Rural Areas: Where is the Progress?” we have been taking some notes on the FCC’s efforts to reform the Universal Service Fund and listened in on Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Hearing on “Universal Service Reform – Bringing Broadband to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 15, 2011 -- Broadband Breakfast.com hosted its last monthly Intellectual Property Breakfast Club on Tuesday with a keynote address from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif, followed by a discussion panel entitled “Video Streaming on Digital Devices: Will Broadband Clash with Copyright?” Congresswoman Lofgren began her keynote address with the premise that content owners need to start looking at the digital world as an ally rather than a threat. “Are you going to worry about controlling content or getting paid for content,” she asked. Lofgren pointed to examples of legitimate digital platforms like Hulu and Spotify, and noted Amazon sales of $3.1 billion, to illustrate that it is possible to make money in the digital space. Not surprisingly, the congresswoman from Silicon Valley had her reservations about proposed intellectual property enforcement legislation that would have adverse affects on the technology sector. “If we do nothing on copyright law, we would be doing everything just about right.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 9, 2010 – Public Knowledge, Silicon Flatirons and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation last week sponsored a half-day conference to discuss the Federal Communications Commission and its efforts in reform, regulatory responsibility and standard setting. The second panel looked at the pros and cons of regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2010 - Panelists from the Federal Communications Commission, Capitol Hill, public interest groups and the private sector addressed issues of FCC reform and regulatory responsibility at “An FCC for the Internet Age: Reform and Standard-Setting, a half-day conference sponsored by Public Knowledge, Silicon Flatirons and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Keep Reading
Washington, February 26, 2010 – The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission this week previewed his agency’s spectrum recommendations in the FCC’s upcoming national broadband plan to be presented to Congress next month. In Julius Genachowski’s statement titled “America’s 2020 Vision for Mobile Broadband,” he established that “no area of the broadband ecosystem holds more… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 10, 2010 – The head of the Federal Communications Commission’s internal “think tank” said Tuesday that the agency was taking a fresh look at all aspects of its broadband data-collection processes: collection, validation and analysis, and dissemination. Speaking to a roomful of panelists and telecom officials who attended Tuesday’s Broadband Breakfast Club in spite of the snow, Office of Strategic Planning Chief Paul de Sa said that the agency was sensitive to the need to balance proprietary information with the desire for transparency in its data-collection processes. In a keynote on the topic of “Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Collecting and Using Broadband Data,” de Sa began by asking questions that frame the work of the agency on broadband data. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON February 1, 2010 - As a follow-up to President Obama’s State of the Union Speech last week, Obama sat down with YouTube’s news and political director Steve Grove to answer questions submitted and voted on by users of YouTube, which is owned by Google. The total number of votes cast were 774,450, on 14,476 questions, from nearly 65,000 users. The number one question in the “jobs and economy” category came from James Earlywine of Indianapolis, who asked: "An open internet is a powerful engine for economic growth and new jobs. Letting large companies block and filter online content and services would stifle needed growth. What is your commitment to keeping the Internet open and neutral in America?" "I’m a big believer in Net Neutrality,” said Obama. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 25, 2010 - Broadband experts discussed civil rights issues surrounding a speedy internet and how best to close the digital divide at an event last week hosted by the Minority Media & Telecom Council at Howard University. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 21, 2010 - The Federal Communications Commission in a Tuesday workshop explored consumer choice, user control of their online experience and the importance of transparency. The agency’s fourth Open Internet Workshop on Consumers, Transparency and the Open Internet focused on the sixth principle of network neutrality - transparency. Keep Reading
BOSTON, Mass., January 15, 2010 - Academics, economics, technology specialists, application creators, internet service operators and investors descended on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday to discuss the possible effects of the proposed net neutrality rules on innovation, investment and internet users. Sharon Gillette, chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission and Paul de Sa, chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, moderated the late afternoon and evening workshop. This article summarizes the entire comments made at the substantive MIT workshop. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 13, 2010 - Representatives from the federal government, educational organizations, trade associations, and school districts came together to discuss the state of broadband in our educational system and what can be expected from the national broadband plan under development by the Federal Communications Commission. The session, the January Broadband Breakfast Club, commenced with a presentation by Steve Midgley, Director of Education at the Federal Communications Commission. Midgley began with a brief background of the national broadband plan mandate and the national purposes behind it. He said that he believed that aside from the necessary deployment and adoption data that will be included in the plan, the success of the plan hinges on the agency’s answer to this specific question of Congress: “why are we building this network?” To address this question, Midgley paired the priorities of the Department of Education with the four core strategies of the broadband plan’s education component. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 11, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched http://reboot.fcc.gov, a new interactive website attempting to foster public discussion on how to best improve the agency. The site includes many opportunities for public input on a variety of facets of FCC operations, including greater release of FCC data, the development of new systems such a the “Consolidated Licensing System,” and the redesign of the main agency website, http://FCC.gov. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 8, 2010 - With about a month left until the Federal Communications Commission delivers its National Broadband Plan to Congress, Commissioner Robert McDowell spoke about the impending plan – as well as spectrum politics, Net neutrality and competition in the video media landscape – on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 17, 2009 – The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday laid out a rough draft of its national broadband plan after weighing through 66,000 pages of written comments, 27 public notices, 100 items posted on its “blogband” web site, and 700 blog comment posted to the record. But the agency says it is still difficult to answer key questions that must be addressed within two months time, or by February 17, 2010. Keep Reading