WASHINGTON, March 15, 2010 – An executive summary of the Federal Communications Commission’s forthcoming National Broadband Plan drew near-unanimous praise from stakeholders on the eve of the full plan’s release, with industry groups, public interest advocates and lawmakers all weighing in positively as they became aware of the agency’s intentions.

WASHINGTON, December 2, 2009 – A senior lawmaker on Wednesday weighed in on government intervention in the media at a Federal Trade Commission forum convened to consider an alleged decreasing amount of original reporting taking place, as media outlets shut down or layoff journalists in the face of falling revenues.

The widespread availability of broadband technology plays an important role both in the alleged problem – competition to traditional print media revenue streams – and in the proposed solution: widespread availability of online content funded through a variety of means.

WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 – The Universal Service Fund is in need of an overhaul to equalize costs among stakeholders and modernize programs to include broadband services, a group of industry representatives and regulators told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet during a Tuesday hearing.

The hearing examined a discussion draft of the Universal Service Reform Act of 2009, authored by subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.

The Universal Service program, which existed for decades before being codified in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, is under “tremendous pressure” and requires a comprehensive effort to reform its operations, Boucher said during opening remarks.

WASHINGTON, October 31, 2009 – This week Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., added to the growing number of network neutrality-related bills when she filed legislation that would ban the Federal Communications Commission from regulating internet access, as proposed last week by Chairman Julius Genachowski. Blackburn’s measure, H.R. 3924, is intended “to prohibit the FCC from further regulating the Internet.” In a statement, she said FCC rules “ironically would make the Internet less neutral by allowing the FCC to regulate it in the same way it regulates radio and television broadcasts.”

An agreement reached by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was praised Wednesday by Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Chairman of the Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee.

ARLINGTON, Va., June 18, 2009 – Broadband policies must adapt to ensure both competition and quality service for all consumers, a group of industry executives and policy experts said Thursday during at the Pike and Fischer Broadband Policy Summit.

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2009 – Congress is unlikely to act on major broadband issues until after the August recess, aides to House and Senate committee chairs told attendees Tuesday at the American Cable Association summit here.

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2009 – Proper oversight of the $7.2 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program can only take place if key terms are defined properly, a panel of agency officials and policy experts told a congressional committee on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2009 – The transition to digital television since the passage of the DTV Delay Act has been a “major accomplishment,” House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said Thursday at a hearing on the state of the DTV transition.