The National Broadband Plan: Tracking the Internet’s expansion
By Flickr user docentjoyce
The ambitious plan has implications for a variety of businesses, from the telecom industry to technology innovators. There also are niche facets of the plan well worth a business take, such as access (and technology) for the hearing-impaired, sight-impaired and individuals with other disabilities.
Check out the overview at Broadband.gov; as you’ll see this is a long-term effort which will unfold slowly. Your best bet for early stories is to speak with local telecom providers about how regional compliance will be rolled out, what infrastructure build-out might be necessary, potential costs to consumers and potential jobs creation.
Here’s one au courant angle that will grab readers: a $100,000 apps-building contest sponsored by the FCC and the Knight Foundation. Details are sketchy but they’re open to input from a variety of sources; members of the public will help vote on the winners.
This roundup of industry reaction published Monday is helpful in identifying trade groups and other parties – if you’ll be following the issue long term, be sure to sign up for RSS feeds and e-mail newsletters.
In a meeting earlier this month, the subject of inclusion for people with disabilities – a key feature of the national plan – was addressed; here’s more info from the National Association for the Deaf.
There also is uncertainty from the consumer angle, in terms of subscription fees, use taxes and other pocketbook matters. This Web chat transcript featuring a Washington Post journalist will give you food for thought and prompt questions you should ask local telecom executives and public service commission officials.
And here’s an NPR interview with FCC commissioner Michael Copps.
Check with any technology business corridors, university business incubators and other tech development entities about new developments and new equipment for the sight- and hearing-impaired as well as things that help people with mobility issues. Find out if anyone in your neck of the woods is working to develop or market new technology.
