Remarks of FCC's Gigi Sohn at NATOA Conference

Without question, the landscape is changing for local governments, but in a good way. Most significantly, the future is not in cable, but in broadband. Even the cable operators acknowledge this. This is good for your citizens -- the broadband future has more freedom, openness and choice. Broadband facilitates education, healthcare and economic empowerment. And importantly for all of you, broadband facilitates good government and civic participation.

Rather than wait for incumbent Internet service providers to build the network your cities want and need, you can take control of your own broadband futures. Rather than thinking of yourselves as taxers and regulators, which has been the traditional role, you can think of yourselves as facilitators of the kind of services you've been begging the incumbents to provide for years. We at the Federal Communications Commission want to work with the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) to remove barriers to broadband deployment, spur competition and ensure access for all. We consider you to be a vital partner in achieving these goals.