Publication Type: Media Release
Date: 3/5/2009CONTACT: Rob Stoddard/Brian Dietz, 202-222-2350
NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow today sent a personalized letter to every Member of Congress to respectfully suggest a framework and priorities for the federal government agencies that are charged with implementing the $7 billion broadband grant and loan programs that were established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In order to ensure that broadband fulfills its full promise as an engine of job creation, a facilitator of educational and health care opportunities, and a means of shrinking the distances between isolated communities, McSlarrow suggests that the broadband grant and loan programs should be structured around the following priorities:
- Extending broadband facilities to unserved areas.
- Supporting programs that enable underserved populations to acquire and to make effective use of broadband service where it is already available.
- If funds remain, extending broadband facilities to underserved areas defined in terms of below-standard speed and other qualitative measures relative to today’s current generation broadband service.
A copy of the letter is linked below.
# # #
NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks. The cable industry is the nation’s largest broadband provider of high-speed Internet access after investing more than $130 billion to build a two-way interactive network with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to millions of American consumers.
Attachment: Letter_to_Congress_on_Broadband_Grant_Programs_03.05.09.pdf (51 KB)