Faculty members play key roles in Pennsylvania broadband summit

Faculty members play key roles in Pennsylvania broadband summit

Two Penn State faculty members will serve alongside officials from the Federal Communications Commission and other national experts during the 2010 Pennsylvania Broadband Summit in September.

The College of Communications professors will share their expertise during the two-day session scheduled Sept. 20-21, in Camp Hill, Pa. They are Rob Frieden, the Pioneers Chair in cable telecommunications, and Krishna Jayakar, associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications.

"We're proud that our faculty members have been called on to support broadband policy making in our home state," said Anne Hoag, associate dean for undergraduate education and outreach in the College of Communications, and faculty director for the summit. "We have some of the most well-informed and respected experts on broadband matters in the world working on campus, and working with constituents and organizations close to home and much farther away."

Frieden, an expert on the net neutrality policy debate, will moderate a panel on the topic with officials from the FCC, Clearwire and Verizon. Jayakar, who has researched e-rate funding for education, will coordinate a panel addressing the 2004 Pennsylvania state policy measure Act 183, "Broadband Outreach and Aggregation Fund and e-Fund Implementation." Panelists will include officials from the state public utilities commission, the Pennsylvania Telephone Association and the Office of Consumer Advocate.

In January 2010, the state was awarded a grant to collect broadband mapping data, implement strategies to address gaps and identify barriers to broadband adoption.

The summit provides a free resource (until registration closes Sept. 14) for a wide range of people interested in broadband adaptation, deployment and policy. Conference topics will be of interest to state and local elected officials, education entities, hospitals and health care providers, technology councils, non-profit associations, law enforcement and many more.

The goals of the summit are to create and foster a sustainable dialogue among broadband providers, communities, consumers and anchor institutions; determine how broadband challenges and opportunities should be approached in a coordinated fashion; and provide a shared learning opportunity to identify and leverage broadband best practices across the state.

Additional details about the event, including registration information, can be found at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/programs/pa-broadband/index.html online.