Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on Universal Service.  The hearing focused on the current state of the USF and whether or not is is appropriate for the 21st century.  There was concenus from the Members of Congress and the panelists that USF needs to be reformed and utilized to support broadband into rural and unserved America.

Panelists included Rey Ramsey of One Economy who was focused on providing internet access to low income families, George Lucas who raised the issue of providing broadband to schools and libraries and Jane Patterson of E-NC who believes that we need to make providing service to rural America a priority.

It is good to know that our policy makers are aware of the importance of broadband access in currently and to hear about some of the successful programs that are making progress towards closing the gap.

The news for summer travelers has been grim this year.  Astronomical gas prices have some of us altering or even cancelling summer travel plans - the conversation heard all over the country is: "do we drive or fly - which one is less outrageously expensive?"  And those of us who are brave enough to step up to the plate and plan a flying vacation, we were then hit with the news that airlines are now going to start charging us up to $50 each per checked bag.

What? No more meals, dwindling legroom, and now, baggage fees?  Well, its broadband to the rescue for the airlines. American Airlines announced their plans to begin a trial of in-flight broadband service tomorrow. That's what I call a step in the right direction for the airline industry.

The first flights to test this service will be the NYC-LAX routes with plans for quick expansion to other transcontinental flights to San Francisco and Miami. Aircell LLC has been conducting test service of its technology with American Airlines for the past three months, and now they are ready to go live. On Wednesday, the service will be complimentary, but American will charge $12.95 per flight on all future flights for those of us who want to email, chat or google on our trips.

I've talked a lot on this blog about the hardcore economic benefits of broadband that come from applications like telecommuting and eMedicine. And while surfing the net in air may not be a critical application, it may be the boost customers need to enjoy their flight, as well as the boost airlines need to continue to attract customers. 
And with that, I'm off to an extended summer vacation myself. This will be my last entry on this blog. I've enjoyed chatting with many of you and having the opportunity to extol the virtues of broadband. I wish you all fast download speeds, free wireless and happy trails.

Living in Washington for the past 15 years, it's all too obvious to me how slow moving this government town can be.  We've long been teased for being behind the times in all sorts of arenas from fashion and nightlife to technology adoption. But recently, the House of Representatives put the government in the role of potential trend setter on an issue near and dear to my heart.

The House recently passed the Telework Bill which enables qualified government employees to work from home two days every two weeks. Now, on its' way to becoming a law, its' next stop is at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. (If you want to know more about this process you can click here to check out The school house rock version of How a Bill Becomes a Law). 

 
This is an amazing bill not only because the merits of telecommuting are many and far reaching, but should this bill become law, it will go a long way to help reshape the reputation of telecommuting from something that is reserved for a few select professions, to something that really can be implemented widely and successfully.  Of course, since it's the government, many checks and balances are built in to ensure this is the case.  I'm looking forward to those annual reports.

A story ran on the AP wire yesterday about high gas prices are causing employees and employers a like to consider telecommtuing as a good option to save on gas.  For Brent Cranfield that means a savings of more than $25/week.  Given all of the new developments in communications, instant messaging, video conferencing and a host of broadband applications, for some teleworking means that much more productivity.

Those of us who have tirelessly promoted the message that broadband Internet access is critical to our economy, our competitiveness, our environment and our infrastructure continue to be vindicated in the media.  News stories about with reports of the cost savings and productivity gains that will be achieved if more Americans have broadband Internet access.  One of my favorites is a report from The American Consumer Institute that describes all the ways that wide adoption of broadband Internet access will be good for the environment. One of the highlights of this reports is a simple fact that states that reductions in first-class mail, as well as the plastics saved, by downloading music and video, could reduce emissions by 67.2 million tons over the next 10 years.  In addition, the report points out that increased telecommuting could save another 588 million tons over the next ten years.

While there are clearly countless ways to calculate the positive impact that reduced emissions resulting from deeper broadband penetration across the US, the bottom line is that under any scenario, all of us would benefit.  The Exaflood is coming and we need everyone to be prepared for it and ready to particpate in it.  This fundamental truth underscores IIA's core objective to advocate for increased broadband access across the US and support the work and solutions developed by groups like Connect Kentucky and One-Economy, which have successfully created mechanisms to bridge public-private programs and increase penetration in their targeted areas.