Getting fast and inexpensive broadband to all Americans is an essential goal for the next decade; most people agree. But how do we do it given the high cost of deploying broadband to rural areas? And how do we drive better broadband in a market where’s there’s not very much competition to drive both better access technologies as well as lower prices? At the end of last year, GigaOM provided a platform for Craig Settles, an author and broadband consultant, to debate with Blair Levin, the author of the National Broadband Plan, on the topic. Those columns are listed at the end of this post.
For those who want to see the debate go further, please join me in Washington D.C. on Monday, Feb. 7 to watch Levin and Settles discuss how we can get to better broadband in person at the New America Foundation. The two will participate on a panel moderated by myself, Cecilia Kang from The Washington Post and Amy Schatz from the Wall Street Journal. For those unable to make the trek, please tune in to the GigaOM site or the New America Foundation website on Monday at 10:00 a.m. EST (7:00 a.m. PST) to see the debate streamed live. I’ll be taking audience questions tweeted to @gigastacey, and you can follow the event on Twitter using the #broadbandplan tag.
The posts that started this all:
- The National Broadband Plan: Some Assembly Still Required
- In Defense of the National Broadband Plan
- National Broadband Rebuttal: Are We in for All, Or Just Enough
- The Broadband Plan and the Power of Data Driven Thinking
