The U.S. Broadband Opportunity Council interagency is asking for public comments on how federal agencies can promote broadband deployment, adoption and competition.
In addition to identifying regulatory and other barriers, the BOC, which is co-chaired by the departments of Agriculture and Commerce, wants recommendations on ways to promote public and private investment in broadband.
Consisting of 25 agencies, the BOC was established by a Presidential Memorandum issued in March to remove unnecessary regulatory and policy barriers, promote investment and support broadband access and adoption.
Promoting the idea of bringing broadband to more consumers has been a priority of the Obama administration. In January, the White House released a report outlining community-based broadband solutions and detailing how consumers can benefit from local competition. The report was released on the same day President Obama visited Cedar Falls, Iowa, a town that has built a successful fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network.
Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant secretary for Communications and Information and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said the council will look at ways all federal agencies can use their resources to help more residents and businesses get access to a broadband connection.
In its RFC, BOC said it wants comments on various issues, including: using federally-funded broadband assets; eliminating regulatory barriers within government agencies; resolving regulations that restrict or impede broadband competition; and providing incentives to service providers to offer broadband services, either wired or wireless, in rural and remote areas.
For more:
- see the release
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