The Business of Broadband

ZCorum Affiliate, Sjoberg's Cable TV, joins the Digital Adoption Coalition to bring broadband to families that can benefit most.

Here on ZCorum’s Business of Broadband blog, we’ve been keeping you updated on the National Broadband Plan and applications for stimulus funds to bring broadband to unserved or underserved areas.

Now we’d like to take a moment to note that one of ZCorum’s own Affiliates, Sjoberg’s Cable TV, is taking a step to stimulate adoption of those services.

Earlier this month, Sjoberg’s Cable TV was named as a partner on a NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) application for the Digital Adoption Coalition.

Partners in the Digital Adoption Coalition and the BTOP application include the service providers, technology companies and nonprofit organizations listed in the table below.

According to One Economy, the purpose of the Coalition is to “bring broadband services, computer technology and training to low-income homes throughout the U.S.” Members of the group intend to facilitate sustainable broadband adoption by providing digital literacy training and discounted computers, software and technologies that will ensure low-income homes are ready to receive broadband.

Curt Kolcun, Vice President, U.S. Public Sector for Microsoft, the Digital Adoption Coalition “will focus on strategies to expand affordable broadband access and adoption so that citizens gain the tools they need to seek jobs, stay informed and pursue economic opportunity.”

If the application is approved,  James Assey, Executive Vice President, NCTA, says “federal funding – combined with actual and in-kind contributions from the various members of the coalition – would help bring broadband service to families in up to 250,000 government-supported housing units nationwide.”

The Coalition will work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to encourage broadband adoption in public housing, project-based Section 8 properties, and multi-family assisted communities over the next few years.