A Technology Policy Institute study on NTIA’s Broadband Technology...
A Technology Policy Institute study on NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (CD Nov 15 p16) mischaracterizes the purpose of BTOP, wrote John Windhausen, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition executive director, Monday (http://bit.ly/HXpngV). The authors of the TPI paper (http://bit.ly/IeHUFn)…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
describe the BTOP program as a “rural subsidy,” but the program is not rural or a subsidy, said Windhausen. The principal purpose of the BTOP infrastructure program was to provide high-capacity middle mile broadband services to community anchor institutions across the country, not just in rural areas, he said. That’s different from the Broadband Initiative Program administrated by the Rural Utilities Service that was focused on connecting rural residential customers to last-mile broadband, he said. BTOP provided a one-time investment in “long-lasting” broadband infrastructure that “expands the reach of broadband services across many underserved geographic areas that previously suffered from an inadequate level of broadband capacity,” said Windhausen.