peering

Verizon’s Link Hoewing and Public Knowledge’s John Bergmayer to Co-Chair the Task Force with Initial Push on “The Economics of Broadband Access Networks”

Washington, D.C. May 13, 2013 – The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) launched a new educational effort to bring a better economic understanding of the Internet ecosystem as it relates to Internet policy. The task force will be chaired jointly by Link Hoewing (Verizon) and John Bergmayer (Public Knowledge) who will bring balance and experience to this important endeavor.

We care deeply about the future of the Internet and it is critical that lawmakers and the congressional staff advising them make informed decisions. This “Internet Ecosystem Economics Task Force” will lay down a solid base of economic understanding so that lawmakers can make good decisions in major areas such as the Open Internet, Internet TV, peering, compulsory licensing, competition policy, spectrum policy, and many more. The Task Force will vigilantly adhere to our mission to curate balanced and dynamic debates among Internet stakeholders. Our volunteer board of directors will ensure that the task force dutifully executes that mission. In fact, the architecture of the board reflects our balanced mission.

The Task Force will begin by planning a congressional staff briefing on “The Economics of Broadband Access Networks” in the coming weeks. The chairs will develop a sound factual “economic understanding of broadband access networks, competition in the market, and how the broadband industry compares globally.” The briefing will include a balanced set of speakers reflecting diverse economic theories in collegial debate — which is the hallmark of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory program.

We hope this will be the first in a series of excellent programming from these task force chairs. We will share the briefing description and a suggested slate of debaters in the coming days.

About the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee to the Internet Caucus is a diverse group of public interest, non-profit and industry groups working to educate the Congress and the public about important Internet-related policy issues. With participation from Members of the Caucus and logistical support from the Internet Education Foundation, the Advisory Committee hosts regular forums to discuss important Internet-related policy issues. Since its founding, the Advisory Committee has built a membership of over 190 organizations from a broad cross-section of the public interest community and the Internet industry. Additional information, including an updated membership list, is available at http://www.netcaucus.org.

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