Five years into the National Broadband Plan

Five years ago, Blair Levin oversaw the development of the National Broadband Plan. And now, at the plan’s upcoming fifth anniversary, Levin is taking a hard look back, beginning with Celebrating a Fifth O’Planniversary with an op-ed on the Benton Foundation’s website.

Most importantly, Levin looks at what he believes was the plan’s greatest shortfall – adoption. He said: “I do not want to take anything away from private efforts, but I fear that some in government believed this is a problem acts of charity can address. It isn’t. Fortunately, it is now back on the government agenda, with Commissioner Clyburn setting out a framework for Lifeline reform.”

And, he looks at a current and at times incendiary aspect of broadband planning. “The Open Internet and the National Broadband Plan,” he writes, “are not in conflict: both reflect how the government and public are grappling with how to protect long-standing principles of equity, diversity, and innovation.”

Read Levin’s thorough analysis of a major piece of broadband planning, and how its successes and failures indicate directions for current plans. These days, Blair Levin is executive director of Gig.U, and is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

Celebrating a Fifth O’Planniversary (Blair Levin Benton Foundation op-ed, Mar. 16, 2015)