Workshop: Deployment Unserved/Underserved

The goal of this workshop is to explore what it means to be unserved or underserved with respect to broadband access, why such areas or groups are unserved and underserved, and what actions the United States should take to help stimulate broadband deployment in these areas. Specifically, this workshop will discuss how to define and identify unserved and underserved areas or populations. For instance, how should we consider the types of services available, the quality and price of services, limited availability of services, and competition? Further, this workshop will analyze what barriers exist to market entry or additional deployment that reduce or preclude broadband deployment in certain quarters of our nation and what data are available or would be useful to accurately identify these areas and understand the barriers to deployment. In this vein, the workshop will seek to understand the costs, revenues, regulatory barriers, market structure and other obstacles that currently inhibit additional and improved broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas. The workshop will also explore what actions the Commission can and should take to reduce such barriers to entry in these areas. Finally, this workshop will examine the expectations of consumers, providers, and governments for broadband access in unserved and underserved areas.

Topics

The following are some of the preliminary topics that will be covered at this workshop. If you would like to discuss any other topics, please send us your suggestions.

• Relevant factors in defining and identifying “unserved” and “underserved” markets.
• Data available to identify “unserved” and “underserved” markets.
• Barriers that reduce or preclude broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas (e.g., costs, revenues, regulatory barriers).
• Consumer, provider, and government expectations for unserved and underserved areas.
• Mechanisms unleash investment in unserved and underserved areas
• Cost curves for targeted deployment that stimulate broader deployment
• Identify areas that fit the statistical profile of areas usually unserved or underserved but that nonetheless are served to determine models for service
• Cost curves for deployment in different unserved areas

Agenda

3:30 pm	Workshop Introduction, Ian Dillner, Moderator
3:35 pm	Panel Opening Presentations (40 minutes: 5 minutes from each panelist) James J. Bruder, Jr., CEO and Chairman, MetroCast Communications Dave Burstein, Editor and Publisher, DSL Prime Kenneth G. Carroll, President and Chief Operating Officer, Wildblue Communications, Inc. Mark Cooper, Director of Research, Consumer Federation of America Gary W. Evans, President and CEO, Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc., Winona, MN George S. Ford, PhD, Chief Economist, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies Mark Gailey, President & General Manager, Totah Communications, Inc. Brett Glass, Lariat.net Frank Schueneman, Senior Vice President - Network Services, Windstream
4:15 pm	Question and Answer Period (65 minutes)
5:20 pm	Closing Statements
5:30 pm	Adjournment

Related Documents

August 12, 2009
Deployment in Unserved and Underserved Areas
James J. Bruder, Jr., CEO and Chairman, MetroCast Communications
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Technologies That Will Matter
Dave Burstein, Editor and Publisher, DSL Prime
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U.S. Broadband Data & Costs
Dave Burstein, Editor and Publisher, DSL Prime
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Satellite Broadband: Bringing Broadband to Rural America
Kenneth G. Carroll, President and Chief Operating Officer, Wildblue Communications, Inc.
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The Focus is on Rural America
Gary W. Evans, President and CEO, Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc.
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Unserved and Underserved Area Deployment
Brett Glass, Lariat.net
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Bringing Broadband to Rural America
Frank Schueneman, Senior Vice President - Network Services, Windstream


Workshop Transcript
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