Susan Molinari, former Congresswoman from New York, and Lillian Rodríguez-López, President of the Hispanic Federation, today announced the launch of Broadband Everywhere, a new organization dedicated to promoting the broadest possible deployment of competitive broadband networks. Molinari and Rodriguez-Lopez will serve as Co-Chairs of Broadband Everywhere.

"Broadband Everywhere's mission is to do just as its name suggests," Molinari said. "As Congress considers the rewrite of current telecom law, it will be faced with a choice: whether broadband providers should play by the same rules or whether the biggest companies will get sweetheart deals and special rules; whether to create policies for widespread broadband deployment or whether to let broadband providers build new networks to narrow slivers of their customer base; whether to respect the role of local officials or whether to sweep them aside. We need to ensure that any reform does more good than harm. The current House bill fails that test," said Molinari.

Broadband Everywhere is an organization currently supported by the American Cable Association and 14 of its members, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the Hispanic Federation, and the National Congress of Black Women. Scores of legitimate civic organizations have echoed our call for maintaining rules that ensure deployment of the latest services to a broadband providers' entire footprint – from rural towns to the inner cities.

Broadband Everywhere has received financial support from the NCTA and expects to receive additional support from NCTA, ACA and other sources. Broadband Everywhere challenges other advocacy organizations to disclose their financial relationships as well.

"More people go online today than ever before, but there is still much work to be done when it comes to closing the gap between those who have access to broadband and those who do not," said Rodriguez-Lopez. "Today, only 1 in 8 Hispanics subscribe to a broadband service, and our country ranks 16th in the world when it comes to broadband adoption. We need policies that close the national and international digital divide."

To learn more about Broadband Everywhere, visit our website at www.broadbandeverywhere.org.