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Libraries, Schools, Health Care Providers Form BroadbandCoalition

Public libraries, schools, and health care providers are joining forces to promote their role in bridging the broadband divide, members of the newly formed Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition announced Thursday. The coalition itself won’t apply for any of the $7.2 billion in broadband funds, but it will advise anchor institutions on how best to apply for the money, it said. Coalition Coordinator John Windhausen said there’s no best way for anchor institutions to apply for stimulus funds, but many will likely apply as consortia or with state and local governments. Mainly, the coalition hopes to “raise visibility” of the anchor institutions, he said.

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Other members of the coalition include the American Association of Community Colleges, Microsoft, the Benton Foundation, the American Hospital Association, the American Library Association, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Media Access Project and Consumers Union. Connecting the anchor institutions to high-speed fiber can act as a gateway by “providing open interconnection points for other broadband providers in underserved communities,” said Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation.

Meanwhile, interconnection is the key to making ubiquitous broadband possible, said Beth McConnell, executive director of the Media and Democracy Coalition. The principle of interconnection, which NTIA and RUS is currently trying to define, is “critically important to reach more consumers where they live, work and connect with others,” she said.

This marks the second coalition to form in pursuit of broadband funds. Last week, civil rights groups formed a Broadband Opportunity Coalition that will apply for broadband stimulus funds and hopes to increase adoption rates, largely in urban areas.