The Puerto Rico Broadband Taskforce (PRBT), working with Connect Puerto...
The Puerto Rico Broadband Taskforce (PRBT), working with Connect Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of Connected Nation, released the Puerto Rico Broadband Strategic Plan aimed to assess and close the digital divide across the island, the groups said. The plan seeks…
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to make broadband at speeds of 4 Mbps downlink and 1 Mbps uplink available to 98 percent of the island’s population by 2015. Additionally, all urban locations and 50 percent of all rural and remote areas should have access to broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up at affordable prices, said Juan Rodríguez, chief information officer of the government of Puerto Rico and president of the PRBT. Some 14 percent of the island’s households remained unserved by any form of fixed broadband at the end of 2011, the plan said. The plan asks the regulators to streamline the regulatory process to promote fair competition and market entry, lower cost barriers to improve the business case for broadband deployment and reduce uncertainty of future costs by encouraging implementation of tax and fee policies by state and municipal government. It also urged establishing low and uniform pole attachment rates and efficient processes. Additionally, the plan proposed passing legislation for the establishment of public-private partnerships for the exclusive purpose of designing, building, and operating fiber networks in unserved areas.