The Community Broadband Bits Podcast recently published episode #32, a talk with Harold Feld of Public Knowledge. Harold is Senior Vice President of the organization which focuses on advocating for digital rights. Harold also authors Tales of the Sausage Factory, a blog dedicated to telecom policy, software, science, technology and writing.
In the February 5th podcast, ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell and Harold discuss the Five Fundamentals of Telecommunications Policy. These fundamentals need to be preserved to maintain the social contract between the private telecom sector and the American public.
We encourage you to read Harold’s recent blog on the Five Fundamentals, which developed as part of Public Knowledge’s reaction to an AT&T Petition. In the filing, AT&T argued that, as it moves from copper line technology to a voice over IP service, is it also becoming an “Information service” provider rather than a “telecommunications carrier.”
According to Harold, the fundamentals must include: Service to all Americans, Interconnection and Competition; Consumer Protection; Network Reliability; and Public Safety. Only by adhering to those basics can future policy preserve communication for urban, suburban, ex-urban, and rural America.
You can listen to this edition of Community Broadband Bits and subscribe via iTunes to the weekly series. The conversation is just under 25 minutes.
