Many parts of America do not have broadband and go under-served by traditional Internet service providers, whether it’s because of limited resources or the provider believes there is a lack enough demand to make the investment. To address this problem, an increasing number of towns across the U.S. have decided that, as a public and commercial good, the municipality will blanket the town with WiFi, at little or no additional cost to its citizens.

Unfortunately, in some states, Internet service providers have taken the viewpoint that if they cannot provide the locale Internet access, no one should.

Public Knowledge’s Position

Public Knowledge supports municipalities that offer free or low cost WiFi to the people that live there. Broadband access is critical to a city’s economy as it gives its citizens and businesses the opportunity to compete in the global knowledge economy.

Approximately 93 million Americans either can’t afford broadband or don’t even have access to it in their area (14-24 million Americans). This problem, often referred to as the “digital divide,” prevents millions of Americans in rural areas or with low incomes from participating in a wealth of online culture and from accessing vital resources like online newspapers, directories, and job listings – many of which are leaving the paper world behind.

Public Knowledge’s Position

Broadband has become a necessity for social, political, and economic engagement. As such, Public Knowledge believes that broadband should be treated like the vital communication tool it is and that we should be working towards building a network infrastructure that we can be proud of, just as we were proud of the electric grid and the landline telephone network.

One of the hardest things about growing up is learning how to face hard problems.  The easy impulse is always to try and ignore a hard problem and hope that it goes away.  The flaw in this strategy is that it almost never works.  In fact, it usually only makes the problem worse.  Oftentimes, it makes the problem worse in ways that you never could have expected.  Eventually there is a moment where you realize that the only way to solve the problem is to face it head on, even if that means making some hard decisions.  That is the moment you grow up a little bit.

And thus, we find ourselves considering today’s filing by Public Knowledge and the National Hispanic Media Coalition about text messaging and the Universal Service Fund.

The problem of reforming the Universal Service Fund (USF) without Congressional direction means working without clear guidance on what the FCC should, institutionally, hope to achieve. “Broadband!” Is the usual answer from reform proponents. “Basic broadband for everyone! And eliminate waste. And spur investment. And promote innovation. And create jobs. And education. And –“ Well, you get the idea.

After all the shouting has died down, after the House elects its Republican leaders and after the Senate sorts itself out, the reality is that policy in the telecom sector will likely remain where it has been for the past two years – in state of suspended animation.  That’s a shame, because the people who can most benefit by some reasonable and commonsense changes may not have the opportunity to do so.

Whatever the final results of this election night, nothing will be more shocking or sad for Public Knowledge and me personally then the defeat of Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va), the current Chair of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet.  Rep. Boucher, widely recognized as one of the most tech-savvy and intelligent members of Congress, has long been an advocate for consumers on a wide variety of communications and intellectual property issues.

So now we’ve had National Broadband Plan Day!. And, despite undeniable flaws and places where the Plan Drafters wussed out/”avoided controversy,” The Plan looks pretty damn good, actually.

Let me stress that: Pretty . . . Damn . . . Good!

The Communications bar was buzzing today because the FCC released the Executive Summary of its National Broadband Plan. Tomorrow at its monthly meeting, the agency will release the entire plan, all 360 pages of it.

But along with the Commissioners, staff and scores of onlookers, there will be an elephant in the meeting room that will not get nearly as much attention – that is, whether the FCC actually has the power under the Communications Act to enact major parts of the plan. Without a “cop on the beat,” the fate of broadband consumer protection regulations such as privacy, transparency and emergency communications will be at risk, as will other initiatives to ensure great access to broadband and greater adoption of broadband by the disadvantaged.

The National Broadband Plan is a chance for the FCC to articulate a vision for improving the deployment and adoption of broadband in the United States. In two sets of comments filed this week with the FCC, we highlight recommendations that would encourage new entry into broadband markets, and encourage the FCC to put its treatment of broadband on a firmer legal ground. Additionally, along with many other public interest groups, we're a signatory to this statement encouraging the FCC to adopt a bold, yet pragmatic policy for promoting broadband.

These issues are complex--it's hard to reduce broadband policy to a couple of key phrases. In general, the market structure for broadband services has been shaped by decades of conflicted public policy. We believe that this structure should be moved in a direction that promotes the entry of new broadband competitors. This post will summarize some key points from our separate filings.