Open Technology Initiative

"We've got this harrowing economic environment and unprecedented opportunity to effect change. That tension is really very much at play in terms of fundraising," said Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute. "We've had a fairly banner year because the latter has really been winning out. People see the opportunities here and are willing

Washington, DC - Today, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative released a report comparing residential high-speed Internet pricing in the United States and Japan.  With broadband stimulus funding applications due soon and discussion over the creation of a national broadband policy heating up, this report sets a baseline for comparing the current state of Internet service provision. 

As the FCC begins its year-long process to recommend a National Broadband Plan, one starting point is to unlock publicly-owned assets that can facilitate ubiquitous, affordable broadband access. Wireless spectrum remains the most cost-effective and rapid means to deliver broadband access to rural and unserved urban residents. But as mobile broadband use continues to increase exponentially, demand for spectrum will rapidly outpace availability under current spectrum management policies.

The time has arrived for the unmet potentials of federal white spaces to receive some well-deserved attention. While many policy analysts have focused on the fate of the 700 MHz auctions, the digital TV transition, and the promise of television white space devices, the best available data suggests that the majority of federal spectrum capacity is left unused (McHenry, 2003; McHenry, 2004) – a situation that has gone largely unexamined. Strategic reuse of this spectrum could help obviate the need… more

The following chart lists the price, download and upload speeds of residential Internet services in the U.S. and Japan.

The new NoChokePoints coalition, launched Monday, has nearly 20 members, including Public Knowledge, Sprint Nextel, TW Telecom and the New America Foundation. The groups called on the US Federal Communications Commission to reform the fee structure for ...

The new NoChokePoints coalition, launched Monday, has nearly 20 members, including Public Knowledge, Sprint Nextel, TW Telecom, and the New America Foundation. The groups called on the US Federal Communications Commission to reform the fee structure ...

A proper analysis of the CMRS markets in the United States will indicate that the wireless market as a whole demonstrates an absence of effective competition, is likely to become less competitive, and produces active and ongoing consumer harms as a result of insufficient competition. The Commission should evaluate competition in its upcoming Fourteenth Report through the Commission’s standard framework of market structure, provider conduct, consumer behavior (or consumer choice), and market performance – but the Commission should also

Washington, D.C.  -- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced today that she will introduce legislation with U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to promote more rapid, cost-effective expansion across the country of broadband networks that carry high-speed, high-capacity communications.

Please join us on Wednesday, June 10 to officially launch the Open Technology Initiative (OTI) and to learn more about its current projects, including M-Lab, an open platform for researchers to deploy Internet measurement tools; Building the 21st Century Broadband Superhighway, an initiative to deploy middle-mile fiber infrastructure across the country; and other ways OTI promotes affordable, universal, and ubiquitous communications networks through partnerships with communities, researchers, industry, and public interest groups.