DECEMBER 16, 2008 � Member-companies of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council (search for the FTTH Council) have urged leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to ensure that proposals for expanding broadband coverage are included in the economic recovery package that is expected to be introduced when the new Congress is seated in January.

In a letter sent to Capitol Hill today, the council members called on Congress to use as a baseline for the economic recovery package a set of broadband tax and other incentives put forth by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) earlier this month. To this baseline measure, the council members believe Congress should include additional incentives that enable the deployment of advanced infrastructure to all Americans.

The union has stated that every $5 billion invested in broadband infrastructure will create 97,500 direct jobs in deployment activities, while indirectly resulting in another 2.5 million throughout the economy.

The council's letter noted that "a consensus has developed that accelerating broadband deployment will greatly enhance critical infrastructure and produce very rapidly a substantial number of jobs."

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