Blair Levin, tapped just two month ago to head up the FCC's national broadband strategy, said the commission will have many more broadband workshops in the coming month in addition to field hearings as the agency looks to form the broadband strategy that must be submitted to Congress by February.
During a status report session to the FCC on Friday, Levin cited several challenges to the broadband plan, including scope, lack of data, the imbalance of the resources available to make universal broadband achievable and simple demand for broadband. He noted that the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, otherwise known as the Swine Flu, could highlight that imbalance as more people might have to commute from home and kids might need to be educated at home.
The FCC kicked off a series of 18 workshops at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6. That process will continue through Sept. 3. To date, the FCC has held 16 broadband workshops. Levin said he's planning other new workshops on content, cybersecurity and civil rights in addition to various field hearings.
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