Earlier this month, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and former Chair Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act (S. 3506). This legislation codifies several of the recommendations made by the FCC in its report to Congress earlier this year, in which [...]

A few weeks ago, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) National Broadband Plan and its promise (or lack thereof) for small businesses. At the end of that hearing, Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) announced that she intended to hold another hearing during which she wanted [...]

It seems as if it was broadband week on Capitol Hill, as both the House and Senate Small Business Committees played host to meetings to discuss high speed Internet access and its impact on small businesses. Over in the House, Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez convened a hearing last Wednesday that was immediately striking because it [...]

If you were placing bets with yourself about which Small Business Committee would venture to hold a hearing once the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its broadband plan, your wait is over. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairwoman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) convened that hearing at the end of last month. For the most [...]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the release of its National Broadband Plan a few weeks ago, accompanied by as much hullabaloo as could be spared from health care reform. Whatever else this plan is, or is supposed to be, the FCC had a clear Congressional mandate to get certain things done here. The agency [...]