National Broadband Plan Workshop (Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in Broadband Policy)

National Broadband Plan Workshop
(Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in Broadband Policy)

Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room)
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

October 2, 2009
9:30am

Contact:
Mark Lloyd
Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer
Mark.Lloyd@fcc.gov
(202) 418-7390

Government Participants:

• Mark Lloyd, Associate General Counsel & Chief Diversity Officer, FCC
• John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative, FCC
• Maureen Lewis, Director of the Minority Telecommunications Development Program, National Telecommunications and Information Administration
• Wizipan Garriott, Policy Advisor, Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior

Panel 1: What are the gaps in broadband access and adoption? And what is the best way to measure those gaps?

• Mark Pruner, President & Co-founder, Native American Broadband Association
• Catherine Sandoval, Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law
• Jorge Reina Schement, Dean, School of Communication & Information; Professor II, Bloustein School of Public Policy, Department of Latino-Hispanic Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University.
• Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies

Panel 2: What does the law compel or limit regarding government action to close gaps in broadband access and adoption?

• Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought & Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
• Mara Einstein, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Queens College; Adjunct Associate Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University
• Allen S. Hammond IV, Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Law Professor, Director of the Broadband Institute of California, Santa Clara University
• David Honig, Executive Director, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
• Geoffrey Blackwell, Director, Strategic Relations and Minority Business Development, Chickasaw Nation Industries

Panel 3: What works now to close the gap in broadband access and adoption?

• Laura L. Efurd, Vice President & Chief Community Investment Officer, ZeroDivide
• Patricia Bransford, President, The National Urban Technology Center
• George T. Laub, Managing Director, Council Tree Investors
• Antoinette Cook Bush, Partner, Communications Group, Skadden Arps
• Heather Dawn Thompson, Partner, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP.

In the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Congress has instructed the FCC to regularly report on whether advanced telecommunications services were being made available to all Americans in a timely fashion. Yet there remains considerable debate as to whether broadband services are being deployed in a way that allows all Americans to benefit. The diversity of our nation, our different cultures and religions and languages, is one our great strengths. This diversity also requires the government to take special care to ensure that the needs of all Americans are reasonably addressed. Structural poverty, continuing segregation, unequal opportunities in education, and discrimination in financial markets can all have a profound affect on access to broadband and adoption rates. These challenges affect some groups more than others. How do we create a national broadband plan that recognizes the different needs of a diverse America, but also adheres to the core American principle of equal treatment under the law?

• A decade ago, the notion of the digital divide had resonance at a time when less than half of all Americans used the internet, mostly using dial-up internet connections from desktop computers. Today, there are smaller holes in the fabric of access than a decade ago, in part because the nature of access has evolved from slow and stationary to fast and mobile. Yet differences in access persist. How does adoption of broadband vary across different social and demographic segments, such as race and ethnicity, educational attainment, income, and geography? Do different population segments use different access networks (wireline versus wireless) and devices differently? Are there different choices and costs for different groups of Americans? Are the consequences of being offline in today's broadband-connected world different than a decade ago?
• What is the best way to capture the facts about different groups of Americans? Do telephone surveys or census reports or community-based research do a better job of helping us understand the access, adoption and use of advanced telecommunications services in communities with varying cultures and languages?
• Are the education, health care, energy and environmental benefits, public safety and e-government applications of different importance to different communities?
• What is constitutionally permitted in creating a national broadband plan that would address the different needs of different gender, racial and ethnic groups?
• Does the market now serve the needs of a diverse America? Are there FCC or legislative policies that can create incentives for markets to better serve the needs of a diverse America?
• Is there an appropriate direct role for local, state and federal government to connect all American to advanced telecommunications infrastructure? Is the universal service fund working to close disparities in access and adoption?