The National Broadband Plan has put the spotlight squarely on getting broadband service to the roughly 35% of U.S. households that don’t subscribe.  I don’t think anyone can disagree with this overarching goal, and it’s clear that it will take a multi-pronged approach to bridge this gap.

The good news is that we have significant research which shows why these households haven’t yet subscribed.  In some cases, challenges in reaching these homes have been facilities-based – finding new and innovative ways of getting broadband service to rural and remote areas.

But in many other cases, as Pew Research and other firms have pointed out, the challenges involve “barriers to adoption,” namely, the availability of affordable computers, digital and technical literacy, an understanding of the relevance of broadband service, or the ability to afford the service itself (For further details, see the FCC paper entitled "Broadband Adoption and Use in America.").

We’ve been concerned about these issues for a long time.  Cable ISPs have invested heavily in building out their networks, making broadband service available to 92% of American households.  We’ve also focused on elements of digital literacy to help families better understand how to manage the content coming into their homes.  And, we are sensitive to the affordability of broadband service.  Many cable ISPs have established tiers of broadband service which allow subscribers to buy whatever level of service makes the most sense for them.

Broadband access for the two-thirds of American households that have it wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership of the private sector.  So we strongly agree with the Plan that one of the best ways to help connect more homes is through partnerships in which both the government and private industry bring something to the table.

Last December, after consultation with federal policy makers and other stakeholders, we proposed the Adoption Plus (“A+”) initiative.  A+ is a proposed two-year, public-private partnership.  It’s designed to promote sustainable broadband adoption for a vitally important population, middle school-aged children in low income households that don’t currently subscribe to broadband service.  Under the proposal, cable ISPs are prepared to offer deeply discounted broadband service and equipment, in partnership with schools, companies, and digital literacy groups that could help provide – to households where students qualify for free or reduced school meals – a package of affordable hardware and software, and training in digital literacy (See more in this previous post.).

Our strong interest in this kind of collaborative approach is why we’re happy to participate in a new pilot program that includes broadband ISPs, computer technology companies, nonprofits and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help bring broadband service to low-income homes around the country.

Under the leadership of One Economy, a global nonprofit committed to stimulating broadband adoption efforts in the neediest households, several parties have jointly filed an application to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration for funding through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.  The coalition will work with HUD to increase broadband adoption efforts in public housing and multi-family assisted communities. If the stimulus application is approved, federal funding – combined with actual and in-kind contributions from the various members of the coalition – would help bring broadband service to families in up to 250,000 government-supported housing units nationwide.  This target group encompasses many of the same families we propose to reach with the Adoption Plus proposal.

The coalition built around this HUD initiative comprises a unique collection of seemingly strange bedfellows.  There are the non-profits – One Economy and Connected Nation.  There are the hardware and software manufacturers – Intel, Dell, and Microsoft.  Telco ISP AT&T is involved in supporting the application, as are 14 of our member companies – BendBroadband; Bresnan Communications; Bright House Networks; Cablevision Systems Corp.; Charter Communications; Comcast; Cox Communications; Eagle Communications, Inc.; Mediacom Communications Corp.; Midcontinent Communications; Sjoberg’s Cable TV; Suddenlink Communications; Time Warner Cable; and US Cable Group, covering some 85%  of households across the country. Two trade associations – NCTA and USTelecom – also are in the mix.

The concept is simple.  Each entity involved in the initiative plays to its strengths in helping low-income families overcome barriers to adoption.  HUD will identify eligible households for the service.  The computer companies provide affordable hardware – which would be partly subsidized by the stimulus funding – and software, to help make families broadband-ready.  The nonprofits then provide training in digital skills and literacy, to families that are new to broadband.  And once these pieces are in place, the ISPs would offer deep discounts on broadband service, reduced-price or free modems, and free standard installation.

If you have read the Broadband Plan or its executive summary, the rationale behind this coalition may sound familiar.  The Plan highlighted the importance of creating, “public-private partnerships of hardware manufacturers, software companies, broadband service providers, and digital literacy training partners to improve broadband adoption and utilization by working with federal agencies already serving non-adopting communities.”

We think that with the formation of this coalition, and our ongoing efforts around Adoption Plus, we have hit the mark.

We often discuss the use of technology for purposes of entertainment, but it’s important to recognize that it can also be used for educational purposes.

Our sister organization Cable in the Classroom, the U.S. cable industry’s education foundation, is dedicated to this mission: To foster the use of cable content and technology to expand and enhance learning for children and youth nationwide.

A few years ago, CIC launched the Leaders in Learning Awards (LIL) in order to recognize outstanding educators, administrators, policymakers and other community leaders at the forefront of innovation in education.

There are profiles of this year’s winners on here; there is a short video and an audio interview on each winner.

All of which is simply prelude to announcing that the application process has opened for the 2009 LIL Awards. LIL winners – who typically represent a national cross-section of cable systems, programming services, schools and other educational institutions – are recognized annually in Washington, D.C., at the annual Leaders in Learning Awards Gala, scheduled for June 10, 2009. Winners receive a $3,000 cash stipend, an all-expense-paid trip to D.C., and the chance to visit with Members of Congress and other federal officials.

The application period will expire on Wednesday, December 17, 2008. If you know of a deserving educator, administrator, public official, or community leader at any level, in all disciplines, and in all kinds of learning settings, then suggest that they enter.

Kyle posted a few weeks ago about his interview with Robert Scoble of FastCompany.tv. Scoble’s video of the interview is online now and embedded below.

Enjoy!

The cable industry has consistently demonstrated its commitment to policies that ensure all Americans have access to affordable broadband. This includes:

• Proposals to create a fund tailored to expanding broadband into unserved areas.
• The Broadband Data Improvement Act which would improve federal data collection regarding where broadband services have been deployed in the United States to achieve the goal of ubiquitous broadband availability for all Americans.
• Tax credits or other tax incentives to providers that build out in rural areas that are unserved by an existing broadband provider.
• Reform of the RUS broadband loan program so that funding is targeted specifically to unserved areas.
• Expansion of the FCC’s Lifeline and Link-Up Programs to help ensure that broadband access is extended to low-income households.
• Public-private partnerships to provide broadband in unserved areas.

We recognize that the government can play an important role in making certain that the economic and social benefits of broadband connectivity are extended to all areas of this country. While broadband deployment to every community in America merits the full attention of policymakers, legislation calling for “network neutrality” or government intervention into the operation of networks would undermine the goals of broadband deployment and adoption.

The government’s consistent light regulatory touch since the introduction of broadband has worked. Only that continued regulatory freedom is likely to spur the investment and innovation that consumers have come to expect.

The cable industry is on the verge of making the leap — from “broadband” to “wideband” — with a technology which can enable dramatically higher download and upload speeds. Several weeks ago, for example, Comcast launched a “wideband” service in Minneapolis-St. Paul that offers speeds of 50 Megabits per second. Comcast expects to have wideband available to 20% of its systems by year-end 2008 and to all homes passed by mid 2010.

The efforts of broadband network providers to build larger and faster networks have helped ensure the success of countless numbers of new Internet businesses and applications. Despite concerns about alleged limited access to broadband, use of Internet video on demand has grown at the most dramatic rate. In February 2008, nearly 135 million U.S. Internet users spent an average of 204 minutes viewing 10.1 billion online videos. YouTube represented 34% of those online videos, or nearly 3.5 billion.

For years, net neutrality proponents have argued that without government intervention, broadband providers would stifle competing services and content providers; Internet development and usage would stagnate; and consumers would be unable to use their broadband connections to download video or access other emerging applications. In fact, cable’s investment in broadband has driven innovation and investment in new content and applications at the edge — the exact opposite of what was predicted by advocates of net regulation.

(more…)

You’ve heard about those DTV converter boxes that you can get a coupon for. News today that the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has partnered with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) on an upgrade of the nine-year-old site AntennaWeb.org, “an online antenna mapping program designed to help users determine the proper outdoor antenna to use in order to receive free local broadcast channels.”

In other news, the DTV Transition Coalition, of which NCTA is a founding member, put out a media release on Friday pointing out their tremendous growth in membership. It’s a long and varied list that includes “consumer groups, broadcast, cable and consumer electronics companies, retailers, civil rights and grassroots organizations, trade associations, and state and local government organizations.”