Yesterday the US Broadband Coalition released its initial report on a National Broadband Strategy. There’s not a ton of changes since I read the draft – but now that it’s out there I could probably comment more.

I think the report is, as they stated themselves, “a wealth of new ideas, many of them worthy of serious consideration and further discussion.” They didn’t focus on reach consensus or recommending specific policies.

Here’s a quick list of items that seem to come up:

• Wired and wireless access will have a place
• Promoting adoption and use of broadband is essential
• Encourage innovation at all levels
• Mapping and metrics are important

I think the report does a nice job of detailing contentious and potentially contentious issues. And it was successful at bringing some strange dinner guests to the same table. It will be valuable for policymakers who aren’t reading up on broadband every day. I think there is agreement on the need to bring everyone up to speed. The debate seems to come in when you specific what speed and how.

As someone who does read about broadband every day, I’m eager to see a report that does suggest some recommendations that will lead to consensus or at least a good push forward. I just read in MinnPost about Aneesh Chopra (US Chief Technology Officer) and his fears that we are in danger of losing our competitive edge. He referred to a report called the Atlantic Century; it ranks global innovation-based competitiveness of 36 countries. In overall score the US ranked 6th; it’s ranking in other areas was lower.

So I grow impatient waiting for the National Broadband Policy – but I’m worried too that as we hem and haw over how to reach our goals while keeping everyone happy that the rest of the world will be leaving us in the dust.