In celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, we are reminded of the progress made, and the struggles ahead for America’s fastest-growing community. This month, we celebrate the accomplishments of Latinos in politics, business, and every American sphere. Latinos have progressed, and continue to grow in buying power, educational attainment and number. The work of ensuring Latino participation in all aspects of American life must also include ensuring full digital inclusion – the advancement of digitally literate communities who are online and ready to leverage digital tools across their lives.

HTTP is proud to represent a coalition of national and regional Hispanic organizations working to increase awareness of the impact of technology and telecommunications policy on the U.S. Hispanic community. As a coalition, HTTP’s members support policies that promote universal access to, and adoption of technology, including broadband Internet. HTTP members support the policies, partnerships and public- and private-sector opportunities to ensure investment leading to expanded broadband access and innovation that makes the Internet more useful to this community.

We care about these policy and business matters for important reasons. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 51 percent of Hispanics access the Internet via a mobile device, while only 33 percent of whites do. The mobile platform has proven to be an accessible “on-ramp” to the Internet while many Latinos continue to lag in adoption of home broadband. Ensuring that Latinos are online, and using the Internet in their daily lives to access education, healthcare and other opportunities is a key to ensuring the future prosperity for the community. This adoption of mobile must be matched by overall digital literacy that comes with Hispanics adopting digital tools across platforms.

Latinos continue to lead in entrepreneurship — establishing a record number of new businesses. With broadband Internet, small businesses can reduce operating costs while increasing their competitive edge. Broadband access allows business owners, even home-based businesses, to take full advantage of the global digital economy by having real time access to market data, paying bills online, conducting market research through social media, and improving the efficiency of their business operations. It also allows businesses to connect to new markets a few towns or a continent away. These efficiencies can lead to growth and job creation.

The benefits of broadband are not just tied to business. A digital connection also produces significant benefits for individuals and families. For example, broadband access can reduce the cost of delivering high-quality healthcare, especially in rural areas where the closest hospital maybe more than 100 miles away. With broadband Internet, doctors can provide timely diagnoses through remote consultations, saving patients the time and expense of traveling to the doctor’s office (10 Benefits of Health IT). Emerging mobile health and distance healthcare technology offer a significant opportunity to address the health disparities facing the most vulnerable, rural and mobile Latino communities.

For Hispanics, broadband Internet access is no longer a luxury but a competitive necessity. Without reliable access, businesses and individuals will miss out on opportunities and information, putting them at a disadvantage in today’s digital economy. That is why the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership is proud to add its voice to the call for the deployment of broadband Internet throughout our country, and national attention to realizing universal digital literacy. It is, in fact, the quickly emerging American communities who will benefit most from the rapid deployment of technology in the digital age.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP)

Twitter: @hispanicttp

(blog originally appeared as Guest Voz in Latinalista.net )
By Jason A. Llorenz, Esq.

Today’s economy has become so intertwined with the internet and computers that it stands to reason that anyone lacking comfort in navigating cyberspace or otherwise does not have the skills to operate a computer and leverage digital tools is at a real disadvantage in this increasingly technical job market.

However, as today’s Guest Voz writer, Jason A. Llorenz, executive director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership reveals, Latinos are at much greater risk of losing out in this digital economy than other populations.

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The slowly recovering American economy – still shaky from rising fuel prices and an uncertain real estate market – has meant extended hard times for many Americans. The national unemployment rate in March was 8.8 percent, yet the rate for Hispanics was 11.3 percent – about 43 percent higher than the 7.9 percent unemployment rate among whites, according to the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics.

One key to long-term economic recovery and ameliorating the disproportionate jobless rates is minority entrepreneurship. To support it, we need policies that promote digital skills and encourage access to high speed Internet for diverse communities.

Broadband is an indispensable tool for small businesses, including minority-run businesses. Small businesses account for over 60 percent of all new jobs, and minority-owned firms are growing four times faster than all U.S. firms.

Small- and medium-sized businesses depend more than larger ones on mobile broadband. Broadband enables these businesses “more affordable access to job training for employees, improved access to suppliers, and faster outreach to potential and actual consumers through websites, emails, and e-commerce,” according to Lawrence Strickland of the US Commerce Department.

Ultimately, policymakers and stakeholders must confront how to grow a skilled workforce and build up the technology infrastructure to support economic growth and innovation. Latinos, the fastest-growing community in the country, must not only have access to the high-speed Internet, but must be educated to leverage it for business, education and life functions.

Hispanics’ relationship with the Internet and digital skills is complex. According to a report by Shapiro and Hassett: “80% of Latinos view the Internet as important for economic opportunity and ‘keeping up with the times,’ compared to 65% of Whites.”

Despite this, Latinos lag in adopting this vital resource – only 45 percent have home broadband access, compared to 52 percent of African Americans and 65 percent of whites. According to the FCC, only 20 percent of Spanish-dominant Latinos adopted home broadband. Survey participants cited lack of value of the Internet and price as reasons for not adopting.

Yet the harm to communities on the wrong side of the digital divide remains clear. The skillset needed for the modern workforce requires the ability to use broadband and digital applications to network, secure employment and keep job skills current.

The digital economy means digital skills are not only a matter of economic necessity, but survival in the globally connected and competitive marketplace. With public policies that favor broadband access and the expansion of digital skills, small businesses will prosper and strengthen the communities they serve.

The challenges are real and so is the potential to ensure our nation’s continued prosperity. Ultimately, policymakers and businesses leaders must recognize the importance of policies that support digital literacy to fuel innovation and drive the recovery that we expect for America.

Jason Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of HTTP (The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership).

Last week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski provided the keynote to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual convention in Las Vegas.  His message was clear: the growing demand for mobile broadband is not going away and voluntary incentive options is key to solving the looming spectrum crisis.

Chairman Genachowski faced an apprehensive crowd of television broadcasters, some of whom have disputed the need for spectrum reallocation by arguing that there is no spectrum crunch or that realignment will be too disruptive for broadcasting and endanger their business.  His remarks were intended to ease their anxiety while reassuring them that auctions were coming.

“I’m confident that, working together, we can resolve relocation issues,” remarked Genachowski, speaking of minimizing disruption to broadcasters and consumers once auctions have taken place and a change in frequency is necessitated.  “I’m committed to working with [broadcasters] on this, as well as being a resource to Congress.”

In his statements, Genachowski made it apparent that quibbling over disproven arguments would lead to delays and that would hurt American competitiveness in the mobile broadband space as well as prove frustrating for consumers who are spectrum-hungry.  By moving forward with voluntary incentive auctions, he maintained that spectrum can go where it is most needed and market-driven forces would lead to investment and innovation.

Genachowski went on to say that incentive auctions would “raise billions of dollars for the Treasury – with serious projections of near $30 billion – that can be put toward deficit reduction and other important uses, like public safety, R&D and broadband connectivity in rural areas.”

Mobile broadband, propelled by spectrum reallocation, is key to all sectors of the economy as well as providing a valuable resource for education and healthcare.   Not only has the FCC called for incentive auctions but leading economists and a broad range of business leaders from all industries have called on Congress to give the FCC the authority it needs to hold these auctions.  All while protecting integrity of the broadcast business model.

For Latinos – who have adopted mobile broadband in droves – the cost of a prolonged spectrum crunch due to inaction is equally if not more severe than for the rest of the country.

To put it bluntly, the FCC Chairman simply stated: “If we wait until there’s a crisis to reallocate spectrum, we’ll have waited too long.”

This week, The Federal Communications Commission granted broadcasters a seven-day extension on the spectrum reassignment docket, No. 10-23.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, a coalition of more that twenty national Hispanic serving organizations seeking to increase awareness of technology and telecommunications policy on the US Hispanic community.

Enrique Cortez is Founder and President, Enitial Advanced Communications.

It should come as no surprise to HTTP members that the Hispanic community is adopting wireless technology and mobile broadband at a tremendous rate, with 87 percent of English speaking Hispanic Americans owning a mobile phone, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project’s Mobile Access 2010 report.

The main reason for this high rate of adoption is the attractive pricing of mobile phone voice and data plans.  Mobile phones have become a convenient and cost-effective alternative to maintaining a home phone and internet connection, and mobile broadband continues to enable increasingly active Hispanics to connect to the internet no matter where they are.

However, there are concerns that the cost-effectiveness of the mobile-only option could be diminished by proposed “bill shock” regulations, if the regulations result in price hikes in mobile phone and data plans  – effectively driving many Hispanics off-line and serve as a deterrent against signing up for or continuing mobile service.

For a more detailed discussion of the effects of the FCC’s proposed regulations on the Hispanic community, read the reply comments on this matter filed by The Hispanic Institute.  For a succinct summary of the issue please read on.

According to The Hispanic Institute, what the FCC would like to do is to provide protections for the estimated one percent of Americans, according to the Nielsen Company, that experience a significant unexpected voice or data overage in a given year.  But these protections must be implemented in a way that would not have the effect of raising costs and increasing the bills of mobile consumers – ultimately placing more pressure on the family budgets of already price-sensitive communities for whom cost is a major factor in technology adoption.

In addition to the cost concerns, there may be some detriments to implementing some of the proposed solutions. For example, one of the FCC’s proposals does little to address the problem of bill overages.  The FCC’s proposal calls for a “circuit breaker” provision that cuts off phone service when a person’s limit has been exceeded.  This provision would have an especially devastating impact on those who are totally reliant on their mobile devices for all forms of communication. There must be a middle ground that maintains service while also holding unexpected costs down.

HTTP echoes the Hispanic Institute in calling for a low cost to families, high benefit proposal that focuses on efforts to educate mobile consumers in using the tools available to them in managing their usage and avoiding unexpected bills.  We look forward to working with the FCC on devising strategies to educate and build consumer awareness of the various usage management options available.  We believe that this path will do more to prevent unintended overages and empower Hispanics and other communities in a mobile world.

The Memorandum of Understanding entered into between Comcast and some of America’s top Hispanic leaders was released in June. In it, the company agreed to some revolutionary commitments aimed at promoting a more diverse high-tech world, not the least of which is a $20 million investment capital fund aimed at minority tech entrepreneurs  who develop new media content and applications. In addition to commitments on Hispanic content creation and expansion – including the addition of 10 new independent cable channels, four of which will be reserved for Hispanic networks and for the expansion of NBC’s Spanish language broadcast properties like Telemundo and mun2 onto online and On Demand platforms – these pledges will have the full weight of an external diversity council that will help Comcast executives meet their benchmarks.

More recently, Comcast announced its “Comcast Broadband Opportunity Program” (“CBOP”), a brand new deal-related offering which will enable Americans living on the wrong side of the income divide to get on the right side of the digital divide. For households with at least one child eligible for a free lunch under the National School Lunch Program, Comcast will offer a $9.95 per month high-speed Internet connection, low cost computer hardware, and access to education and other relevant online content – addressing in a single stroke three of the most common barriers to broadband adoption among Hispanics. In my mind, there is no more critical benefit to the deal than the immediate implementation of the CBOP.

As Executive Director, Mr. Llorenz will lead HTTP’s coalition of more than 20 national and regional Hispanic-serving organizations in advancing its mission of realizing full access to technology for underserved communities.

“The Hispanic Institute is thrilled to have a leader in Mr. Llorenz who brings the consensus–building and advocacy skills, along with the strategic insight needed to articulate a meaningful policy agenda in Washington,” said Gus West, Chair, the Hispanic Institute and Co-Chair, HTTP.

“HTTP is the Latino community’s voice to Congress, the administration and the community on technology and telecommunications policy. High-stakes decisions about implementation of the National Broadband Plan, investments in next-generation networks and the potential revision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 make our voice more necessary than ever, as these issues are discussed in the beltway and around the country. I am thrilled to lead this coalition during such a historic moment,” said Jason Llorenz, Esq., HTTP Executive Director.

To advance its mission, HTTP develops public policy and research that promotes access to broadband and digital tools to close the digital divide and ensure Latinos benefit from the many advances brought about by the telecommunications and information technology sectors of the economy.

Mr. Llorenz succeeds Ms. Sylvia Aguilera, who served as HTTP’s Executive Director since its formation in 1996, and brought the organization to national prominence.

“Our communities’ priorities on technology, broadband and telecommunications policy will be well-articulated by Mr. Llorenz. As Chair of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, I am excited to have his leadership on this core component of the Latino policy agenda,” said Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, President, Hispanic Federation and Chair, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA).

“LULAC continues to be a strong member of HTTP’s coalition and we look forward to working with Mr. Llorenz on the issues of digital inclusion and access that are so critical to the advancement of the Latino community,” said Brent Wilkes, National Executive Director, LULAC.

“Access to technology is central to the future of American economic competitiveness. USHCC looks forward to working with Mr. Llorenz and the HTTP coalition to advance policies that expand access to technology for America’s Hispanic businesses,” said Javier Palomarez, President and CEO, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Read the Full Press Release [PDF]

It should go without saying that civil rights organizations are not only entitled, but justified, to question the ability of a government agency to manage the regulation of something as vital as the Internet.  Even a cursory look at the Federal Communications Commission’s record in addressing the needs of unserved and underserved communities, opens one’s eyes to appalling disregard for the needs of communities of color.  It is a record that the current Commission has done little to change.

The FCC has failed to address:

• enforcement of broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity  rules,
• assignment of a compliance officer for advertising non-discrimination rules,
• promulgation of multilingual broadcasts of emergency information,
• holding a hearing on faulty audience measurement technologies impacting minority-serving radio.

These are only a few examples of the FCC’s failure to protect the interests of minority communities.  While these failures can be directly attributed to the prior Administration, more recent examples – such as the omission of minority, digital divide or minority business enterprise issues in its December 2009 National Broadband Plan Framework, and the agency’s failure to support funding for much-needed support for media and telecom ownership by women and minorities – can only be interpreted by advocates as an outright dismissal of the concerns of disenfranchised communities.

If these issues were not so serious, questions about civil rights organizations’ reluctance to embrace regulation of an open Internet would be almost laughable.  When presented with the FCC’s dismal record of neglect and disregard for the needs of our communities, why would any advocate expect civil rights organizations to trust the FCC’s ability to safeguard our rights on the Internet?

Civil rights organizations need not excuse or explain themselves in the face of such naiveté. Like any group of engaged, concerned citizens, we have the right to petition our government. In this case, where the trust and goodwill of minority communities have been decimated by neglect, we will be especially vigilant in our efforts to ensure that our government engages in responsible policy making. While we respect the right of advocates to hold differing opinions, we feel strongly that the energy and resources being used to discredit civil rights organizations over this one proceeding would be better placed in moving the FCC to act on the long-standing list of civil rights proposals that have languished at the agency.

It is distressing to witness groups and individuals that are aligned with the Commission using smear tactics – typically the domain of political operatives – to discredit civil rights organizations.  These tactics are at odds with the “Change” that had been the uniting promise of a new Administration that many of us helped bring into office. In the past, we have partnered with some of the same organizations that now question our motives.  In the future, it would serve all of us to collaborate once again. We ask these organizations to not make the same mistakes that the FCC has made in disregarding our very real concerns for the needs of disenfranchised communities.