FCC taps Austin for initial hearing on broadband expansion

The Federal Communications Commission will hold a public hearing in Austin on Monday to get input on the government's plan to use stimulus bucks to expand high-speed Internet access in rural parts of the country.

Monday's event is the first of three initial "field hearings" the FCC has announced to solicit opinions from the public about the $7.2 billion the government is planning to allocate as part of its national broadband expansion plan. Two panels will "explore the challenges of broadband deployment in Texas, including spectrum access, infrastructure, and rural issues," at Monday's hearing, the FCC said in a statement...