USTelecom’s Banks Speaks at Broadband Conference June 19th, 2009
Jon Banks

I spoke at the Pike & Fischer Broadband Policy Summt yesterday on a panel focused on broadband buildout.  There was general agreement among providers – both fixed and mobile – that private investment is the key driver to more and better broadband. For instance, Tim Regan of Corning traced the ramp-up of fiber deployment to the FCC’s decision not to require unbundling of fiber lines.  Fiber provides the most capacity and highest broadband speeds.

At yesterday’s keynote luncheon, Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps spoke on the importance of developing a broadband plan and the need for that plan to be pragmatic and not to get enmeshed in and sidetracked by longstanding issues that don’t contribute to more broadband deployment and adoption.  Carriers alone are investing about $60 billion a year in broadband.  Given that the Stimulus Act funding for broadband deployment is on the order of $3 billion a year, keeping broadband providers investing at the current rate, or, better yet, increasing that investment has to be a key focus of our broadband policy.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Events and Appearances, USTelecom Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.