White House Rural Council to Look at Broadband Deployment
Broadband is among the priorities of the new White House Rural Council established Thursday by President Barack Obama through an executive order. The council, which will include representatives of the FCC and the Agriculture and Commerce departments, will support Obama’s plan to expand broadband networks in rural areas, the White House said. Rural telecom companies praised the council’s focus on public-private partnerships to spread broadband. The council will provide recommendations for rural investment and increase coordination between government agencies involved with rural issues. It also will coordinate federal with state, local and tribal government efforts, and promote public-private partnerships, the White House said.
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will chair the council. The executive order said the heads of the FCC, Commerce Department and 23 other federal departments and agencies will be on the group. Council members can designate a “senior-level official” as a proxy. Obama established the council as part of his strategy to “out-innovate” the rest of the world, Vilsack said in a conference call. The administration has done much already to help rural areas, including funding 330 broadband projects benefiting 10 million people in rural areas, he said.
"It will be beneficial for the White House to get engaged in telecom policy and ensure that sustainable broadband is a national goal,” National Telecommunications Cooperative Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. “We will be working closely with Secretary Vilsack’s office as a primary stakeholder and resource for this initiative.” Windstream applauds the council’s “commitment to additional public-private partnerships as a means to strengthen rural communities, and we look forward to participating in the ongoing discussion,” said Windstream Senior Vice President Mike Rhoda.