My fun news of the day – the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board has joined the US Broadband Coalition.

The Coalition includes a wide range of stakeholders – from think tanks to broadband providers – that have united to provide a united front for broadband. They began with Call to Action in December 2008 when they unveiled a Framework for a Comprehensive National Broadband Strategy. To further flesh out that Strategy, the Coalition has formed six working groups that will report on their progress at an event in Washington, DC, in late Spring or early Summer of 2009.

Bernadine Joselyn from the Blandin Foundation told me the good news and added her perspective, “The Blandin Foundation is committed to ensuring that rural perspectives are well represented in policy deliberations that impact the vitality of rural people and places. We welcome the participation of Blandin Broadband Strategy Board members in the work of this National Coalition because we think rural Minnesota communities will benefit from representation of their rural Minnesota experiences and aspirations for robust connectivity with our global economy.”

I’m hoping that the Coalition will be able to underpin their strategy with tactics soon – I think we could definitely use a national broadband strategy to help lead policy and hopefully make wise decisions with the economic stimulus proposals. The timing may be off for the first round but it could work out well for the second.