Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps said the challenge of rolling out broadband service -- which he defined as bringing "high-speed, high-value broadband and an open Internet to all Americans" -- is "much greater" than that of the transition to digital TV.
That came at a speech to a broadband summit in Washington, D.C., where he predicted that a new president and more activist Congress had a new opportunity to make the broadband rollout a national priority.
He said one move worth considering would be establishing a White House broadband czar, adding that the rollout needed the kind of attention given the Y2K threat (the same effort he said is needed and lacking in the DTV transition).
Copps pushed for a coordinated effort, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development ensuring that "every new low-income housing project" had access to high-speed broadband from the outset.
