TRS Broadband Forum White Paper is available by clicking the link below.

Broadband Forum White Paper FINAL Jan3 2012

Broadband Forum White Paper:  Executive Summary

Americans are getting connected, and broadband is bringing us together—most of us, that is. Broadband is the indispensible infrastructure for the 21st Century, a digital highway to jobs, education, health care, emergency response, and social interaction. In many ways, broadband has become as essential to our daily lives as are electricity and telephones. Broadband plays a vital role in enabling individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, people with other disabilities, and people who live in rural areas to be linked to a world of information and services.
To spur the capacity, availability, and adoption of broadband, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), at the urging of the U.S. Congress, has outlined the National Broadband Plan (NBP). This internal FCC policy initiative calls for government, businesses and consumers to join in bringing broadband to more than 100 million homes. The NBP also calls for changing how broadband is regulated and how some Internet-based, lifeline and disability-related services are supported.
But countless details on how the National Broadband Plan will be carried out have yet to be decided. Major concerns remain over who will get broadband access or have to accept what many consider less-effective satellite connections, whether proposed broadband technologies are sufficient for the needs of today and tomorrow, and who will pay for this massive effort. More important is whether many potential broadband users will be excluded because of where they live, how much they earn, or the disabilities they have.
On August 25 and 26, 2011, the Maine Telecommunications Relay Services Advisory Council held the Broadband Forum in Portland to determine the potential effects of the National Broadband Plan—as well as proposed alternative plans by the telecommunications industry and by consumer advocates—on individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or who have other disabilities. An additional focus of the Broadband Forum was the NBP’s effect on people who live in rural areas. At the Broadband Forum, more than 75 consumers, telecommunications company representatives, and government telecommunications regulators defined major issues and recommended action to ensure universal access to quality, affordable broadband.
The clear consensus of the Broadband Forum is that unless all citizens have comparable broadband services at comparable costs, Maine and the nation will have a digital divide. Therefore we will be communicating the findings of this white paper to legislators and policy makers at the state and federal levels.

Sign up for the TRS Broadband Forum now!

TRS BB Forum FINAL PDF 2 July 2011

Goals of the Forum

• Learn from national and regional experts the purpose of the Broadband Plan on America’s telecommunications infrastructure.
• Raise media and public awareness about the impact of the National Broadband Plan on New England and the intended and unintended consequences of the plan on rural areas and deaf/hard of hearing consumers.
• Connect with policy makers to broaden awareness of the needs of deaf/hard of hearing consumers in this new environment.