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Public Asked To Give Input On Broadband, Funding

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President Obama's  Broadband Opportunity Council  is seeking public comment on how federal agencies can promote broadband deployment, adoption and competition. The council is made up of 25  agencies. They're asking to identify regulations and other barriers hampering deployment of broadband. They're also seeking recommendations on ways to promote public and private investment in broadband along with understanding the challenges facing areas that don't have highest speed Internet.

Maria Alvarez Stroud is Director  of  the University Wisconsin-Extension Broadband & E-Commerce Education Center.Alvarez says like the rollout of electricity 80 years ago, fast Internet is here to stay...

"....agriculture to healthcare to education and really, just to communicate. It's not just going to go away. This is the technology of the future in a lot of ways...."

 She says this type of public discourse is long overdue. One area is funding, where she says the funders don't talk to each other...

".....one party is interested in improving the area of health care. You have another pot of money that is helping schools and libraries, you have another focused on agriculture. Those parties are not talking to each other...."

The deadline for submitting comments is June 10. A link to more information is here.

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