FCC's Broadband Plan Heads to Congress

The FCC has just submitted its National Broadband plan to Congress. The plan is pretty ambitious; the FCC wants at least 100 million U.S. homes to have access to affordable broadband of at least 100Mbps download speeds. Likening broadband to electricity, the executive summary calls the technology "a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life."

Congress directed the FCC to develop a National Broadband Plan early last year. This would ensure that every American "has access to broadband capability." Congress further stipulated that the plan include a detailed strategy for how this goal would be achieved affordably and with maximum efficiency.

The four points outlined in the plan are:

  1. Design policies to ensure competition

  2. Ensure efficiency in asset management and allocations

  3. Reform current deployment services in high-cost areas

  4. Reform policies to maximize the benefits of broadband when used in public sectors like education, health care and government.

If you're interested in the entire overview, be sure to take a look at the plan. It will be interesting to see the Congressional response to this plan.

While there are lots of calls for government regulations to ensure fair pricing and service speeds, the bulk of infrastructure development and roll-out costs are assumed to be provided by the private sector. How these two areas can be reconciled will likely be one of central issues in actually implementing any National Broadband Plan.

What do you think of what the FCC is proposing? Let us know!

[img credit: Matti Mattila]