Broadband Policy Summit VI

Implementing the National Plan
June 10-11, 2010
Washington, DC
http://www.broadbandpolicysummit.com/

• Who has the ear of the Obama administration, and what are they saying?
• What are the key priorities for members of the 111th Congress?
• How will the national broadband plan affect deployment and adoption?
• How will the battle for the 700 MHz D Block spectrum play out?
• What's next for the recurring issues of privacy and content control?
• What's the future for the rules and principles of network management and open access?
• How much spectrum will shift from broadcasters and the government, and where to?
• What's the administration's view on the balance between competition and consolidation?

DAY ONE - Thursday, June 10, 2010

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Welcome and Opening RemarksRichard E. Wiley, Managing Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

8:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Morning Keynote AddressIntroduced by: Richard E. Wiley, Managing Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Regulatory OutlookModerator: Richard E. Wiley, Managing Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

For a tech-savvy administration suspicious of free-market regulatory policy and driven to act without delay, establishing a codified national broadband strategy was an irresistible goal. How well have they succeeded in correcting the nation's broadband course? And at what cost in other areas? An expert panel assesses the new regime's work during the last year and looks at the new technological and political challenges that lie ahead.

Panelists:

• James W. Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Morning Break10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Broadband AdoptionWhat happens if you build it, and they do not come? Even in many areas where broadband has been available for years, passed homes don't hook up. Is broadband too expensive? Too complex? Too intrusive? Are consumers blocked from broadband, blind to its benefits, or do they just not care? And what, if anything, should be done about it?

12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Luncheon with Keynote AddressIntroduced by: Richard E. Wiley, Managing Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

1:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Program Break1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. Universal ServiceThe Universal Service Support Mechanism has become an expensive, dysfunctional antique tasked with ensuring the provision of essential services. Can this battered hulk be refitted into an efficient engine of contemporary broadband deployment? A panel of experts discusses the technical, financial, and policy issues underlying the quest for USF renewal.

Panelists:

• Eric Einhorn, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs, Windstream Communications

2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Afternoon Break3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Debate: Who Are the Internet Gatekeepers and
Should They Be Regulated?Controlling the Internet is a daunting task, but there is no shortage of volunteers willing to take it on. Governments seek to impose their own standards of free speech on their citizens and those who would speak to and with them, and call on ISPs to act for them in enforcing intellectual property rights. Corporations anxious to monetize their storage and spectrum holdings charge fees to feature or suppress the web offerings accessed by their subscribers. The powerful seek to enlist system operators to restrict critical postings, and pressure or threaten those that decline. Should there be a law against these things? And if there were such a law, would it mimic the evils it is designed to prevent? The freedom of the net may hang on the answer.

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Wireless Broadband - A "Cool" Mobile FutureScored by its critics as too slow, too vulnerable, and too arcane, wireless broadband continues to garner headlines and adherents. The potential of wireless broadband as a cost-effective, rapidly deployable, spatially liberating mode of access unhindered by rugged topography or sparse population captures the imagination of consumers and providers alike. Is wireless a real competitor, or just a back-burner curiosity? Is it the best path to achieving universal broadband availability? Is it the answer for the country's rural, urban, and tribal unserved?

Panelists:

• Julius Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications Commission

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Networking and Cocktail Reception

DAY TWO - Friday, June 11, 2010

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Morning Keynote Address9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Net NeutralityModerator: Nancy J. Victory, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

After years of threats, feints, and shots across various bows, the Federal Communications Commission proposed concrete regulations to govern bandwidth use on the Open Internet, focusing and intensifying the debate and promising its resolution. Should regulations supplant the FCC's four principles? If they do, who will gain, and who will lose? Should the Commission retreat from its proposed framework, and await further developments? And will Congress be content to leave the matter to the Commission?

Panelists:

• Paul Misener, Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon.com
• Lawrence J. Spiwak, President, The Phoenix Center

10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Morning Break10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Morning Debate: Should Broadcast Spectrum Be Converted
to Wireless Broadband Uses?The digital television conversion has been safely and successfully accomplished. Now who gets the enormously valuable spectrum that once supported ancillary operations and protected analog broadcasts from interference? Broadcasters certainly aren't ready to give it up without a fight; and wireless interests are certainly ready to give them one. Do the broadcasters really need it, or are they just unwilling to release a resource they have owned, for free, for years? Do the wireless providers really need it, or are they already warehousing great swathes of bandwidth? And where does the public interest lie?

11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Broadband Investment: The View from Wall StreetModerator: Tim McElgunn, Chief Analyst, Pike & Fischer's Broadband Advisory Services

As the nation presses into recovery from a shocking, frightening, and sobering recession, investors look hopefully, and a little impatiently, for the next great opportunity. How do economic experts rate the opportunities and the risks presented by the national broadband mandate? How is the balance between doing good and doing well being struck in the post-bailout world? And how can entrepreneurs earn a share of the nation's reawakening capital markets?

12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. Closing Keynote12:30 p.m. - 12:35 p.m. Closing Remarks & iPod Drawing