Broadband Opportunity Council Report and Recommendations

The Broadband Opportunities Council presents four overarching recommendations:

1. Modernize Federal programs to expand program support for broadband investments.
2. Empower communities with tools and resources to attract broadband investment and promote meaningful use.
3. Promote increased broadband deployment and competition through expanded access to Federal assets.
4. Improve data collection, analysis and research on broadband.

To pursue these objectives, Federal Agencies will take dozens of actions over the next 18 months. These include commitments to:

• Modernize Federal programs valued at approximately $10 billion to include broadband as an eligible program expenditure, such as the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Facilities (CF) program, which will help communities around the country bring broadband to health clinics and recreation centers.
• Create an online inventory of data on Federal assets, such as Department of the Interior (DOI) telecommunications towers, that can help support faster and more economical broadband deployments to remote areas of the country.
• Streamline the applications for programs and broadband permitting processes to support broadband deployment and foster competition.
• Create a portal for information on Federal broadband funding and loan programs to helpcommunities easily identify resources as they seek to expand access to broadband.

The Council proposes continuing actions in support of its mission, including monitoring agencies’ progress in implementing the action items in the Report and exploring additional steps to further the goals set forth in the Presidential Memorandum.