Posted by: AT&T Blog Team on April 7, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Authored by Jeff Brueggeman, Vice President-Public Policy for AT&T
Earlier today, AT&T helped launch a new public/private partnership that is geared toward helping small businesses grow through access to broadband. We’re investing billions of dollars to build advanced broadband networks for businesses and we are proud to be a founding partner of this dynamic group.
Leading the effort is SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business,” which is working with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to grow one million small businesses through the use of advanced services.
This morning, at an event in Washington, D.C., I joined FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, SBA Administrator Karen Mills, SCORE CEO Ken Yancy and other technology companies to kick off the SCORE Public/Private Broadband Consortium. With the help of donations from its founding partners, like us, the consortium’s focus will be to increase e-commerce capabilities for small businesses through improved training, digital literacy, and online tools. For AT&T, this is part of our continuing effort to provide small business owners with cutting-edge services and the tools and support they need to be successful.
AT&T has been a longstanding supporter of programs to increase broadband adoption. A few weeks ago, AT&T teamed up with a group of Internet service providers (ISPs), computer technology companies, and nonprofits to form the Digital Adoption Coalition. The mission of this group is to bring broadband services to low-income homes throughout the United States.
In the months ahead, we’ll keep you posted on the progress of each group.
Our support for these types of projects is simple: Broadband adoption creates jobs and leads to economic growth. No community in this country can be left out of the broadband revolution. AT&T is committed to continuing to invest in both its wireline and wireless broadband networks and to providing the resources necessary to bring advanced technologies and services to all.
