Capitol Hill - CSE Foundation conducted its fourth Policy Watch luncheon of the year, "Broadband Deployment: If You Build it, Will They Come?" on Capitol Hill a day prior to the House Judiciary's mark-up of H.R. 1542, the "Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001."

The guest panel included, John Malone, President of Eastern Management Group, Larry Darby, CEO and President of Darby Associates, and CSE Foundation Policy Analyst, Jason Thomas. More than 60 hill staffers, media representatives and other third party representatives were present to participate in a discussion on CLECs, ILECs, MSOs, and the current regulatory structure surrounding telecommunications and broadband deployment, and recent legislation pertaining to the issue.

Panel experts (l-r): John Malone, Larry Darby, Jason Thomas.

Speakers commented that the failure of most CLEC companies was a product of dubious business models. Speakers also lamented the dearth of broadband infrastructure deployment due to regulated rates for unbundled network elements. Also, in response to a question from the audience regarding broadband deployment to rural communities, panel members stated that the most efficient and timely way to deploy broadband would be to allow competition without restrictive regulations like build-out requirements. The panel stated that ILECs, new providers and existing technologies could deliver broadband efficiently and quickly to rural communities.

All attendees received policy pieces written by Jason Thomas on the broadband issue. These included two Tech Bytes - Tid Bits in Tech News: "If You Build It, Will They Come?" and "Misunderstanding Threatens to Derail Broadband". Attendees also received copies of two letters by CSE President Paul Beckner, which were sent to House Energy and Commerce members regarding H.R. 1542 and to Judiciary Committee members pertaining to H.R. 1697 and 1698.

Earned Media - Coverage of the policy watch can be found at National Journal's Technology Daily at http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/techdaily/ a and Newsbytes' article at http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166754.html.