Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

WASHINGTON, DC—Mabuhay Alliance and HomeFree USA joined forces last week to stage a couple of conferences that discussed, among others, sustainable home ownership and broadband access particularly for minorities and people of color. Both organizations have been working for the past couple of years with the major players who are front and center in the continuing saga of home foreclosures.

"Today, what I think we’ve seen is something great—corporate rivals who won’t meet anywhere else meeting here today—AT&Tand Verizon. What that shows is the ability of Mabuhay and the Asian American community to bring together rivals for a common purpose, which is how to market to the $600 billion Asian American market. That is the most concrete thing for this is going to lead to more philanthropy, job opportunities and much better broadband access," Robert Gnaizda, Of Counsel of Mabuhay Alliance told the Asian Journal.

Mabuhay Alliance hosted the conference, dubbed "Minorities Leading the Broadband Revolution" and gathered executives from rivals AT&T and Verizon to discuss how to be able to bring more access to the underserved minority population.

"We want to reach a bipartisan goal, and it is here in DC where the policy starts and ends. We hope to replicate this conference in other cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York," shared Faith Bautista, President and CEO of Mabuhay Alliance.

Mabuhay Alliance also gave a snapshot of the $600B Asian American market.

Among the more crucial findings of the survey was the observation that "children are the access point" in many families and that "children or grandchildren negotiate bills on behalf of the household."

Mabuhay is proposing that the survey be enlarged to cover more people and do a random sampling of about 1,000 households to get a clearer picture. They also want a comprehensive study on how to serve and protect the growing 15 million Asian Americans today.

New government statistics on broadband access were released last week. It showed that 92% of households have access to broadband services, according to one of the speakers.

"Getting to the last 5% would be a great challenge. The government needs to focus on it, especially since it is one of the centerpieces of the FCC’s national broadband plan. A lot has been done but what remains to be done is much more difficult," said Jeff Brueggeman, AT&T’s Vice President of Public Policy.

"While more than 2/3 of households have been using broadband, there are vulnerable communities that are lagging behind: elderly, minority, low-income," Brueggeman added.

Telecommunication companies have also expounded on the other uses of broadband, particularly in the fields of distance learning, education and health. There is a need, according to them, to maximize the use of broadband services beyond computers.

Emilio Gonzalez, Verizon’s Vice President for Public Policy and Strategic Alliances said that they are committed to delivering the benefits of broadband to more Americans, specially those who belong to the low-income communities.

He discussed their strategic partnerships with other corporations, particularly One Economy, a member-supported landmark initiative that marshals the resources of government, business, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector around a powerful goal: extending the promise of innovative technology to expand opportunities for those who need them most.