 Today, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch announced that Scott Rudd, the director of broadband opportunities, was appointed to the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, which is housed under the Federal Communications Commission.
“Indiana is at the forefront of increasing broadband access across the state, and the federal government has taken that into consideration and asked Scott to join the broadband committee,” Crouch said. “His work on accelerating the deployment of high-speed Internet across the country will help our administration’s goal of connecting rural Indiana to the rest of the world.”
Crouch has been leading the efforts in increasing broadband access across the state through various methods like hiring the director of broadband opportunities in August of last year. Additionally, Crouch implemented a broadband planning grant through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Crouch also is a part of the administration’s Next Level Connections program, which allocates $100M to providers looking to increase their access across the state.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai appointed various individuals from across the country who work on broadband related issues to come together and address the digital divide in the United States.
The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee will address the following topics:
- how to best improve broadband infrastructure before a disaster occurs and how to use strategies during and after the response to a disaster to minimize broadband network downtime;
- find ways to encourage the deployment of high-speed broadband infrastructure and services to low-income communities; and
- make job skills training and development opportunities more widely available.
“I am excited to start working on the larger picture of how best to address the broadband discrepancies in our state and country,” Rudd said. “It is truly an honor to be asked to sit on such an important committee, and I am ready to get to work and make significant progress in increasing Internet availability for Indiana and throughout the country.”
The first meeting will be held on June 13, 2019 at 9:30 a.m., ET. Visit www.fcc.gov for more information.
