PLAN WILL SPARK INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION
 
          Lawmaker is Author of Mandate Requiring National Broadband Plan 
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), author of the requirement in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a National Broadband Plan, today issued the following statement on the first anniversary of the release of the Plan.
 
“Today we celebrate the first anniversary of America's first, formal National Broadband Plan.  When America has a plan, America wins. Without a specific broadband strategy and commitment to implementing it, we will fall farther behind other countries that already have made broadband a national priority.
 
“The Federal Commissions Commission produced a comprehensive, serious, compelling, inspirational and practical plan.  If fully implemented, it will spark new investment, innovation, and competition - the lifeblood of America's broadband policy. If fully implemented, it will create jobs and bring better broadband speeds, choices, and business-related apps to the small business market. If fully implemented, it will also fulfill the congressional mandate to bring innovation, investment & consumer choice to the smart video box market.
 
“On the first anniversary of the plan, we should reaffirm our commitment to fulfilling the plan’s goals – to invest in our nation’s future by bringing the power and promise of broadband to us all.”
 
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