Official FCC Blog

Last week, Chairman Genachowski visited two small towns in Nebraska that illustrate the opportunities created by broadband for those who have it, and the opportunities denied to those left behind in the world of dial-up.
In Diller, the Chairman visited C&C Processing [6], where he met two entrepreneurs who have built a thriving meat business [7] powered by a vibrant web presence, online sales, and digital technology throughout their growing operation. Since getting online, Chad and Courtney Lottman have more than doubled their sales and nearly tripled their payroll, creating jobs in their small town.
In Liberty, the Chairman met with area residents who have no broadband, and discussed the business and personal challenges they face as a result. We recorded a short video blog during his visit.

At the FCC, we’re hard at work trying to close the gap [8] that exists between towns like Diller and Liberty by modernizing the Universal Service Fund – the primary government mechanism for funding rural communications networks – to focus on broadband.

Last week I was in Omaha, Nebraska to engage in several discussions about the importance of ubiquitous and affordable, high-speed Internet. As you know, we are spending a lot of time at the Commission considering how to reform and modernize the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) and intercarrier compensation regime (ICC) to ensure that broadband is available throughout the nation. And we continued a discussion with consumers, industry, and our colleagues at various state commissions about our pending proposals last Wednesday at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

For broadband to be truly available to consumers, we have to consider more than their physical access to it. We also must take into account their ability to adopt it. We know that of the 1/3 of Americans who haven’t adopted broadband, most haven’t done so because of the costs involved. For these consumers, they must rely on Internet access at their jobs, local libraries, schools, and family and friends’ homes. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Charles B. Washington Branch of the Omaha Public Library to see how this neighborhood anchor is meeting the high-speed Internet needs of the local community. There are terminals all throughout the library. The children’s section has computers. There are two computer areas for adults and another area just for teens. A recipient of BTOP funds, the library will be expanding its access to more computers for citizens, as the demand is very high. This isn’t surprising, of course, because we know that high-speed Internet is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Without it, citizens are disadvantaged in finding a job and communicating. I saw first-hand the benefits of Internet access—the Internet research, commerce, and communicating that the citizens of North Omaha engage in at their local library.

In today’s connected economy, businesses must be certain that their operations are secure. The numbers from across the country show that, for too many small businesses, cybersecurity is overlooked. One in two don’t have security plans in place, while three of every four small and medium sized businesses report being affected by cyber attacks. We can never be too vigilant in preparing for cyber threats.

Yesterday, we took the first step in addressing the issue as Chairman Genachowski held the Cybersecurity Roundtable: Protecting Small Businesses [18]. We hosted former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, panelists from top security companies such as Symantec, and even heard from a small business owner whose company fell victim to a cyber attack.

Maurice Jones, the Chief Operating Officer of Parkinson Construction, explained that not long ago his company became ensnared in a phishing attack. “We unknowingly clicked links in a valid-looking email,” he said. The thieves took hold of Parkinson’s bank account information and defrauded them of a huge sum of money before they could take hold of what had happened. Cyber risk is everywhere today. Understanding that risk and implementing a security plan for your employees is crucial.

There are a number of steps you can take immediately to protect your business. As Secretary Chertoff reminded the audience, “The focus is on managing cyber risk, not eliminating it.” Be proactive and adopt these ten tips [19] to fit your business. They include training your employees in security practices, updating your antivirus software, backing up files, and requiring individual user accounts.

When we launched beta.fcc.gov [24] on April 5, our team kicked off an iterative process to maximize the impact of citizen feedback on the site.

The traditional concept of “beta” reflects some of the best attributes the Web: fast cycles of change designed to build off of what’s working, tweak things that can improve, and ditch the things that aren’t helping users. Our goal is to embody that continual improvement online.

That spirit is the bedrock of the new Fcc.gov [24] platform. At a moment when federal agencies are taking stock of their customer service strategies [25] and leveraging new tech to increase agility and responsiveness, this beta approach can and should make dot govs more valuable for citizens.

In our beta period, here’s a sampling of what we learned: