PROGRAM SUCCESS – SEPTEMBER 2010
Jeopardizing
Broadband Access
and Adoption
By: Robert M. Spooney, Th.D
Executive Director/ CEO of the African American Chamber of
Commerce of Central Florida and the Associate Pastor of
Christian Education at Fellowship Baptist Church of Pine Hills
in Orlando, Florida
With America ’s economic recovery continuing to sputter, mostly
due to a stubbornly high unemployment rate, you would think that
any opportunity to spur job creation and reignite the economy
would be welcomed with open arms. Fortunately, this is not the
case because today we are ignoring an opportunity that exists in the
form of an exciting and innovative platform that holds enormous
promise and could help transform the U.S. economy. I am speaking
of broadband.
In today’s economy broadband is an economic equalizer. It
provides all users, regardless of race and income, with access to the
same empowering opportunities. Yet despite the enormous
empowering value of this technology, federal policymakers have
failed to provide any assurance that misdirected regulation of this
vital service will not occur. This will prove to be a detriment to
minority communities.
Regulation of business certainly has had great value in protecting
against consumer abuses and monopolization. However, poorly
directed and excessive regulation of new and disruptive
technologies like broadband is a mistake because it deters private
investment, stifles growth, and often results in job losses. Worst of
all, it can discourage new entrants, particularly minorities. For these
reasons the imposition of new regulations on a new technology like
broadband should be considered only when there is compelling
need for government intervention and the underserved, especially
minorities, aren’t harmed.
Nonetheless, the Federal Communications Commission is heading
down a path toward heavily regulating an industry that has thrived
with little regulation and that is now poised to provide wide-ranging
economic relief during a challenging economic time. More
troubling is the fact that the FCC is moving forward despite the
pleas of 74 Democratic members of Congress, including
Congresswoman Corrine Brown and Congressman Alcee Hastings,
national labor unions including CWA, the IBEW and the AFL-CIO,
civil rights organizations including the highly respected Minority
Media and Telecommunications Council, and the nation’s leading
organizations of Black and Hispanic elected officials, including the
National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), National
Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL), the Hispanic
Elected Local Officials (HELO), and the National Organization of
PAGE 33
Black
Elected
Legislative Women
(NOBEL Women).
These groups have
cautioned
against
reclassifying
broadband
or
otherwise imposing
new regulations that
would
negatively
impact one of the
country’s few sectors
that has driven our
recovery from the
recession. The groups are particularly concerned given
the high rate of unemployment of minorities and women.
Additionally, these organizations have called upon
policymakers to make high-speed Internet access,
adoption and use our top national broadband policy
priority to ensure greater opportunities for minorities and
women in our digital future.
Ultimately, the FCC’s current course of action could turn
our country’s current digital divide into a digital void
facing minorities, the poor, the elderly and rural
Americans who have yet to fully embrace high-speed
Internet access.
While the leading civil rights organizations are focused
on promoting broadband adoption and informed use
among minorities, the FCC is pursuing a much different
course that does not resonate with the facts on the ground.
If we are serious about using broadband as a platform for
21st century prosperity, then we need to focus on the
proper set of issues to get us there. Ill conceived
regulation is not one of those issues. Instead, we should
keep our eyes on the real prize: universal broadband
access and adoption and job creation. Write to the
following address and express your views:
The Honorable Julius Genachowski
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20554
Dr. Robert M. Spooney is the Executive
Director/CEO of the African American Chamber of
Commerce of Central Florida and former Staff
Manager/Competitive Analyst - BellSouth Business
Systems (Now AT&T)