Broadband Networks ‘Absolutely Critical,’ Top Obama Aide Says

Other members of the working group are the departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation and Veterans Affairs, as well as the U.S. Postal Service. The FCC is among the federal agencies that will have an advisory role. The Obama administration held an event in the Old Executive Office Building Thursday to publicize the order (http://xrl.us/bnbssc). The White House also unveiled a new public-private partnership, U.S. Ignite (www.us-ignite.org), with a goal of fostering networks operating at speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

President Barack Obama was on his way to speak in Cleveland and couldn’t address the meeting, said John Holdren, assistant to him for science and technology. “As this audience knows, broadband networks are absolutely critical to America’s economic future,” Holdren said. “In the same way that we invested in the Transcontinental Railroad and the Interstate Highway System, we need a communications infrastructure that is second is none. As the president has said, this isn’t just about a faster Internet or being able to find a friend on Facebook, it’s about connecting every corner of America to the digital age."

"The Federal Government controls nearly 30 percent of all land in the United States, owns thousands of buildings, and provides substantial funding for State and local transportation infrastructure, creating significant opportunities for executive departments and agencies to help expand broadband infrastructure,” said the order. Other details were released earlier.

The order directs federal agencies to “develop and implement a strategy to facilitate the timely and efficient deployment of broadband facilities on Federal lands, buildings, and rights of way, federally assisted highways, and tribal lands.” It directs federal agencies to “provide comprehensive and current information on accessing Federal lands, buildings, and rights of way, federally assisted highways, and tribal lands for the deployment of broadband facilities, and develop strategies to increase the usefulness and accessibility of this information, including ensuring such information is available online and in a format that is compatible with appropriate Government websites, such as the Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard.” The order also directs DOT, in coordination with the new working group, to “review dig once requirements in its existing programs and implement a flexible set of best practices that can accommodate changes in broadband technology and minimize excavations consistent with competitive broadband deployment.”

"This is a big deal,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told the event. “This executive order will foster job creation by reforming the procedures for access to federal lands and buildings -- making buildout faster and cheaper. It also will fuel economic growth by facilitating the construction of broadband facilities in Indian Country, and encouraging the deployment of broadband facilities in conjunction with federally funded highway construction.” Genachowski said the order will speed broadband deployment, similar to FCC orders on a shot clock for local tower siting decisions and an April 2011 order on pole attachment reform. “Your eyes are glazing over and I understand that, but these are the kinds of blood and guts initiatives that we need to pursue,” he said.

"The Ignite test bed, together with Verizon’s FiOS network, will give users in Philadelphia an altogether new ability to innovate on the fastest fiber-to-the-home network in the United States,” the telco said. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel issued statements supporting the White House’s actions. “With this critical Executive Order, we usher in a time of fewer barriers to broadband infrastructure deployment on federal lands and buildings, making it easier to deploy high-speed Internet across the entire country,” Clyburn said.