Broadband Connectivity

Public Interest Commenters urge the Commission to implement reforms in three major areas as part of a comprehensive effort to transition the high-cost mechanism into a fund that explicitly supports the deployment and adoption of affordable broadband service.  The Commission should (1) create a more inclusive framework that will substantially expand the type and number of providers eligible to receive USF support; (2) require USF recipients, both during and after the transition of the high-cost fund to the Connect America Fund, to provide broadband-capable facilities while maintaining o

The BroadbandBridge is a community-based partnership seeking to bridge the digital divide in Washington DC’s Bloomingdale and Eckington neighborhoods.

In last week's State of the Union address, President Barack Obama highlighted government programs "rebuilding for the 21st century." Among the investments in vital public infrastructure he mentioned -- roads, bridges, rail -- he promised "high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans." The president was referring to mobile broadband Internet and similar services advertised as "3G" or "4G" -- low-cost ways to help make basic broadband near universally availabl

Communications technologies have continued to evolve and now increasingly provide opportunities for deploying low-cost broadband.

At a Nov. 30 event at Columbia University, “Big Media: Pro and Con,” Journalism School Dean Nicholas Lemann analogized media policy to a football field: Just as the size and shape of the field dictates the way the game is played, so too does media policy dictate the development of American telecommunications. And on the heels of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s announcement last week of a new net neutrality proposal, we see more clearly than ever that government legislation and regulation are crucial to this field. In that vein, Columbia Journalism School Prof. Richard R. John’s book Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications, published in May, makes the case that policy intervention has been commonplace throughout American history with a sweeping survey of the history of electrical communications from the early Republic to the modern day.

At a Nov. 30 event at Columbia University, “Big Media: Pro and Con,” Journalism School Dean Nicholas Lemann analogized media policy to a football field: Just as the size and shape of the field dictates the way the game is played, so too does media policy dictate the development of American telecommunications. And on the heels of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s announcement last week of a new net neutrality proposal, we see more clearly than ever that government legislation and regulation are crucial to this field. In that vein, Columbia Journalism School Prof. Richard R. John’s book Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications, published in May, makes the case that policy intervention has been commonplace throughout American history with a sweeping survey of the history of electrical communications from the early Republic to the modern day.

Each day as we log on to the Internet, use our cell phones for more than just talking, watch television, and connect on social networks, we are part of a small group of giants.

Before we all become completely distracted by the Thanksgiving turkey, here is a pre-holiday rundown of MPI’s many activities.

New America Foundation President Steve Coll was a guest on NPR’s On the Media two Fridays ago, commenting on his open letter to the FCC in the The Columbia Journalism Review and the accompanying op-ed in The Washington Post. In these publications and on NPR, Coll made the point that it is in the best interest of Americans for commercial media to give up the existing public interest obligations, and instead pay spectrum usage fees that could go towards strengthening the public media to provide the information the commercial media hasn’t been providing.

Lately, cell phone companies have been trying hard to convince us that we control the airwaves. T-Mobile recently asked, "What do you want from your wireless company?" Verizon says we can "Rule The Air" with their service. These ads ignore that the airwaves already belong to the public, and that we are losing control, not gaining.