Gig.U Executive Director Blair Levin is “very supportive of the...

that every state include at least one gigabit-speed city (CD Jan 22 p1). Levin managed the creation of the National Broadband Plan and has focused on helping to create such fast networks. “The question to me is what does the FCC do about it?” Levin said. “The FCC is an agency with immense powers in a variety of different ways, and I'd love to see them actively engaged in the pursuit of this goal and not just simply saying others should do it.” He said it “remains to be seen” how effective the initiative will be, citing the FCC’s announced workshops and a hope they'll invite “the right people” in evaluating policies across all government levels. “I don’t want to use universal service as a way of keeping everybody low,” Levin reflected later, noting it shouldn’t be used as an excuse not to innovate. “It troubles me when you look at the fastest cities in the world that none of them are in the United States because I think that’s where innovation is going to come from.” One key going forward will be to figure out how to ensure networks meet certain societal needs, which the free market may not do on its own -- needs such as 911 service, network resiliency during disasters and wiring schools, he said. The FCC’s November 2011 USF order contained good things but isn’t “a once-in-a-generation transformation of universal service,” Levin said, describing a coming transformation from the four major telcos bringing wireless 4G broadband into rural areas. He noted that “undoubtedly” the government will “need to look at the system again” when that happens.