Assistant Secretary Strickling Statement on White House Announcement on ConnectEd Initiative

“We look forward to working with the FCC, the Department of Education and all other stakeholders to achieve the president’s goal of ensuring that 99 percent of U.S. students have access to next-generation broadband within the next five years,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling. “Through NTIA’s successful implementation of the $4 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, our grantees have helped bring broadband with speeds of 100 mbps or greater to nearly 10 percent of the nation’s schools.  As a result of NTIA’s broadband investments in North Carolina, for example, our grantee MCNC has ensured that 100 percent of schools in the state have 100 mbps or greater connections and receive Internet access at a savings of 60 percent over retail rates.”