[RTC List] Rural Broadband - local angle on federal policy

[Sean McLaughlin]

RTC colleagues -

http://accesshumboldt.net/site/access-humboldt-joins-call-rural-broadband-principles

Rural Broadband Policy Group Files FCC Comments
Access Humboldt joins call for Rural Broadband Principles

25 March 2009, Eureka, CA - Access Humboldt joined with the Center for 
Rural Strategies and other members of the Rural Broadband Policy Group 
in filing comments today with the Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC). The FCC was required by the 2008 Farm Bill to: “identify how 
specific Federal agency programs and resources can best respond to rural 
broadband requirements and overcome obstacles.”

The Rural Broadband Policy Group, which also includes the California 
Center for Rural Policy based at Humboldt State University, proposed 
basic principles for a national rural broadband strategy, including: 
Communication is a fundamental human right; diversity of rural America; 
local ownership, self reliance and investment in the community; and, 
network neutrality.

Comments filed with the FCC today noted, “our communications 
infrastructure must prioritize competition, innovation and localism…and 
regulation of networks must ensure connection to the backbone of the 
internet globally.”

Sean McLaughlin, executive director of Access Humboldt said, “residents 
of rural communities such as the Redwood Coast of California value basic 
human rights, including freedom of information and expression, ‘by any 
media and regardless of frontiers.’ So, we fully endorse these 
principles to advance broadband media access.”

Specific needs identified for rural broadband include: locally-owned 
infrastructure; assistance in technology adoption; accurate data on 
service availability and adoption, and; uniform and transparent federal 
policies.

FCC comments are available online:
http://accesshumboldt.net/site/access-humboldt-joins-call-rural-broadband-principles

-- 
Sean McLaughlin
Executive Director
Access Humboldt
P.O. Box 157, Eureka, CA 95502
tel: 707-476-1798
dir: 707-476-2873
fax: 707-476-1702
cel: 707-616-2381
e: sean at accesshumboldt.net
bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_McLaughlin_(media_activist_%26_educator)
web:  http://accesshumboldt.net

"Local Voices Through Community Media"