A Multichannel News story by John Eggerton recently discussed the desire of House Democrats that the national broadband plan include getting high-speed broadband service to libraries and other anchor institutions stating, “At a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing last week, House Communications Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va), told agency chairman Julius Genachowski that the plan should focus on an ‘extraordinarily high bandwidth’ to libraries.”
According to the article, House Democrats have expressed their wishes that libraries, hospitals and other anchor institutions be wired up for high-speed internet to both the FCC and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA). They also encouraged that these types of institutions be prioritized for receiving very high speed connections when the NTIA is distributing dollars from the broadband stimulus fund.
The process of developing a national broadband plan has certainly helped broadband to become a priority issue, bringing to light all the many benefits to consumers and consumer institutions.
