Monday, March 18, 2024

GUEST BLOGGER SERIES: Sylvia Aguilera "Hispanic Leaders Weigh In on a National Plan for Broadband"

By: Sylvia Aguilera
Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP)

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission this week, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) applauded the Commission for addressing a national plan for broadband. Our members, who work in communities across the U.S., know that there is a critical relationship between access to broadband and improved social, educational, and economic opportunities in Hispanic communities.

In our filing, we noted that several Hispanic Telecommunications and Technology Partnership members operate Community Technology Centers that offer broadband access to those who may not have it in their homes.  They have done an excellent job of bringing technology resources to communities on the wrong side of the Digital Divide, but we have a lot of work left to do.  Hispanics, especially low income Hispanics, lag behind other populations in access to broadband.

HTTP is committed to working with the FCC as it develops its national plan for broadband.  We look forward to a national broadband plan that addresses the fundamental questions of how we can raise broadband adoption rates and make sure that everyone in this country – particularly previously underserved communities – have access to this indispensable tool.

HTTP’s comments are available at:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520220096

The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) is 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.

HTTP

Latinovations would like to thank Sylvia Aguilera for her contribution to the blog. Sylvia Aguilera is Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, a coalition that she helped to establish to ensure that the needs and perspectives of the Hispanic community are included in policy debates regarding the Digital Divide.  Ms. Aguilera is an experienced association executive with expertise in public policy and multicultural communications. She was formerly Vice President at Comunicad, a DC-based multicultural communications agency.  She has also served as President/CEO-National Hispanic Corporate Council; Vice President-National Community Reinvestment Coalition; and as a Director at the National Puerto Rican Coalition.She was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Chicago, where she earned a Masters degree in Public Policy.  She is a board member of the Public Relations Society of America – National Capital Chapter and a Member of PRSA’s National Diversity Committee.