Alliance for Public Technology, Benton Foundation Release Report on Broadband Applications

New Publication Examines Innovative Uses of Advanced Telecommunications
Services and Strategies for Universal Deployment

Read the report:
http://www.benton.org/Library/broadband/broadband-world.pdf (PDF)
http://www.benton.org/Library/broadband/broadband-world.html (HTML)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) and the Benton
Foundation released the online versions of a new report featuring case
studies of community-based broadband applications. A Broadband World: The
Promise of Advanced Services is a continuation of efforts to identify
applications and their impact on communities begun in 2002 with APT’s
publication of Advanced Services, Enhanced Lives.

The twelve case studies include examples of telemedicine, distance learning,
services for people with disabilities, community networking, wireless
efforts to connect remote locations, municipal efforts to spur deployment,
and worker training. These programs are community-based, many utilizing
public-private partnerships, federal money such as Technology Opportunities
Program (TOP) grants, and collaborations with other local institutions.

Featured Case Studies Include:

* The Milwaukee, Wisconsin public schools’ interactive video learning
program. Fiber connections in over 4,000 classrooms allow for students to
have real time, two-way communication with other schools and outside
organizations.

* The Georgia Department of Corrections Prison Telemedicine System,
which allows for remote treatment of inmates for services such as
telepsychology, dermatological examinations, and treatment of infectious
diseases.

* The Glasgow, Kentucky Infotricity Project, which delivers symmetrical
1 Mbps broadband service to this rural town of 14,000. The municipally owned
electric utility took the initiative to construct a network that will
ultimately be as accessible as electricity.

* The Commonwealth Broadband Collaborative, a group of community
institutions in Boston, Massachusetts, is integrating online delivery with
traditional cable media to create locally informative, multi-lingual and
multicultural content.

"This document articulates our strong belief that broadband can change the
way people live, work and learn," said Paul Schroeder, President of APT.
"Broadband is an essential tool for empowering people and offering
opportunities for better health care, lifelong learning, independent living
and more that can enhance the quality of life."

"If we are to create the connected communities envisioned here, then we must
move from a discussion of speed and providers to one of applications and
benefits," said Matthew Bennett, APT Policy Director and author of the
report. "We have to encourage projects like these to demonstrate broadband’s
transformative value and the need for universal deployment and access."

The report was made possible by a generous grant from the AT&T Foundation to
support efforts to widen the recognition of the role of broadband in
applications which serve the public interest and can contribute to both
economic growth and improved quality of life.

"As communities wrestle with finding new solutions to old problems,
broadband invites us to tackle challenges differently," says Tony Wilhelm,
Vice President for Programs at the Benton Foundation. "Rethinking the way we
do business is necessary – and now made possible – with tools that allow us
to do more with less."

About the Alliance for Public Technology

The Alliance for Public Technology is a nonprofit membership organization
based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to ensuring widespread access to
advanced telecommunications technologies.

About the Benton Foundation

Since 1981, the Benton Foundation has worked to realize the social benefits
made possible by the public interest use of communications. Through its
projects, the nonpartisan organization seeks to shape the emerging
communications environment in the public interest. The Benton Foundation is
located in Washington, DC.

(c) Benton Foundation

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Washington DC 20006 USA

ph:202-638-5770 fax:202-638-5771

email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.benton.org