In March, we shared news with you about the newly-formed Broadband Opportunity Council, consisting of representatives from 25 federal agencies. This group, initially announced as part of President Obama’s January broadband agenda, is charged with identifying ways in which the federal government can better assist the development of broadband networks and remove impediments to these projects.
The Rural Utility Service (RUS) of the Department of Agriculture and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce are seeking comments from local leaders to inform the Council about their own experiences. We have shared findings from our members’ survey with NTIA officials, but we encourage all our member communities to take advantage of this opportunity and share any and all relevant experiences and lessons.
Your comments can include any barriers you have encountered that have impacted your effort to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable, reliable broadband. Those barriers could be around funding, grant requirements, reporting requirements, or any other obstacle you identify. In addition, you can make recommendations about what proactive steps the government could take that might be beneficial to your process and results.
Comments are due by 5pm ET on Wednesday, June 10 – for more information about this valuable opportunity, see here.
To submit comments by email, send a message to BOCrfc2015@ntia.doc.gov with the subject line “Broadband Opportunity Council.” Comments submitted electronically should be in a machine-readable format such as a Word document or in the body of an email.
Written comments may be submitted by mail to:
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue NW Room 4626
Attn: Broadband Opportunity Council
Washington, DC 20230
Written comments should also include a CD or DVD with an electronic version of the comments, labeled with the name and organization of the filer.
Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in your comments, as they will be made public record here.