The Silicon Flatiron Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado School of Law will hold a conference titled "The Future of Broadband Communications" on Nov. 5 to examine how broadband connectivity will transform society, education and the economy.
The conference will be from 3:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom at the law school.
Speakers will discuss why broadband applications such as distance learning and distance medicine are still underdeveloped even though broadband communications emerged as a key legacy of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and has since been actively pursued by numerous companies.
"All of our lives will be affected by the future of broadband; lawyers, policymakers, engineers, and business persons all will benefit from learning more about the business and regulatory dynamics related to the deployment of broadband technology," said Phil Weiser, executive director of the Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program.
"We are lucky to have such a stellar group of speakers joining our program on this critically important topic," said Weiser.
Since the 1996 Telecommunications Act, new companies have entered the marketplace to provide broadband technologies, and existing ones have refocused to meet consumer demand. But despite the enormous investments and a clear consumer demand, the rollout of broadband and the development of broadband applications, such as distance learning and distance medicine, are still in their early stages.
Speakers who will address the issue of Regulatory and Policy Perspectives include Ken Fellman, chairman of the FCC Advisory Committee on Local Government and mayor of Arvada, and Sean Lindsay, associate general counsel of AT&T Broadband.
Those who will speak on the topic of Business and Technical Perspectives include Charlotte Field, senior vice president of technical and network operations for AT&T Broadband, Richard Waysdorf, vice president of business affairs and attorney for Starz Encore Group, and others.
The keynote address will be given by Orson Swindle, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. A reception will follow the conference from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
For more information, contact Adam Peters at adam.peters@ colorado.edu.