The rapid development of Internet applications and digital convergence has already rendered the Telecom Act of 1996 largely obsolete and a source of contentious regulatory uncertainty. Sen. Ted Stevens, the likely new Senate Commerce Committee Chairman, is expected to initiate a major debate on overhauling the Act next year. Voice over IP and the potential for wireless broadband as an alternative last-mile pipe further complicate the policy debate.

The traditional approach to bridging the broadband "last mile" requires huge investments by incumbent carriers. Laying fiber lines to millions of homes - and upgrading proprietary cellular networks to provide wireless Internet access, so-called 3G - are enormously capital intensive and time consuming at a time when the telecom industry is flat on its back. A viable alternative is WiFi, a wireless LAN technology that shares broadband Internet access among devices using unlicensed spectrum.

In an unprecedented display of consensus, a broad and diverse array of groups concerned about America's broadband future released a Call to Action that provides President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress a policy framework for a comprehensive national broadband strategy.

The Wireless Future Project and the Open Technology Institute hosted a lively discussion at the New America Foundation about the regulatory future of America’s broadband marketplace.