The FCC's Broadband Plan
The hot news in broadband policy circles so far this year has undoubtedly been the March release of the FCC's broadband plan, which Congress and President Obama required of the FCC when they passed the 2009 stimulus bill.
I'm not going to bore the readers of this blog with a summary of a summary of the FCC's recently released broadband plan, and I don't have the time or concentration to read through the whole thing and summarize it myself. Instead, I've pulled a few interesting quotes and highlights from the news reports and commentaries posted around the web.
National Digital Literacy Corps: In my opinion, the most exciting news surrounding the broadband plan involves comments by FCC boardmember Mignon Clyburn. Earlier this year, Clyburn announced that the FCC would push for the formation of a National Digital Literacy Corps. Clyburn stated, "This is about neighbors helping neighbors get online." I interpret that statement to mean that this Digital Literacy Corps would hire young people in underserved communities and give them the skills, lesson plans, and equipment they need to train and tutor their friends and neighbors. In other words, the FCC's vision of digital inclusion goes beyond just laying new cables and upgrading existing lines. The FCC under President Obama and newly confirmed Chairman Julius Genachowski understands the importance of training and community involvement in fostering broadband adoption. In order to meet the FCC's ambitious 100 squared goal (at least 100 million U.S. households with a minimum of 100-MBps broadband connections by the year 2020), we'll need more than just infrastructure upgrades. In many ways, we'll need a cultural and educational upgrades as well.
The Current Situation: According to Next Generation Connectivity, a report released by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society released in February, "the U.S. is a middle-of-the-pack performer on the core relevant outcome metrics: penetration, speed, and price"
To quote the introduction to the broadband plan itself:
Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century. Like electricity a century ago, broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is enabling entire new industries and unlocking vast new possibilities for existing ones. It is changing how we educate children, deliver health care, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organize and disseminate knowledge.
The FCC's Response to the Current Situation: From the Tech Daily Dose's summary:
The report outlines four ways that the government can affect the "broadband ecosystem," according to the executive summary of the plan. These including establishing "robust competition policies" to boost innovation, investment and benefits to consumers, as well as ensuring efficient allocation and management of assets government influences such as radio spectrum; overhauling the universal service fund to support deployment of broadband and voice services; and updating policies, setting standards and aligning incentives to maximize the benefits of broadband in such sectors as public education, and government operations.
A Hundred Squared: DSL Reports remarks:
Connecting 100 million households to affordable 100-megabits-per-second service is repeatedly cited as the "cornerstone" of the FCC's proposal, though the goal is something we've noted could happen organically over the next ten years without the FCC's involvement, largely thanks to Verizon FiOS and DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades (cable passes 125 million homes, most of which can be easily upgraded). This goal is, frankly, show business.
Anchor Institutions: According to Ars Technica's summary of the plan
We've already seen the tremendous reaction to Google's announcement that it would build a 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home testbed in some US city. The FCC wants to make sure that every city has access to such a pipe, and it calls for 1Gbps to an "anchor institution" in every community (think schools, hospitals, government buildings).
That list of possible anchor institutions should also include libraries and community technology centers.
Potential Obstacles to Implementing the Broadband Plan: Does the FCC have the money, authority, and political support it needs to fully implement its plan?. The Supreme Court recently ruled against the FCC's attempt to regulate broadband providers (in particular Comcast) and enforce its definition of net neutrality. Furthermore, 111 members of Congress, influenced by millions in contributions from major broadband providers, recently sent a letter to the FCC asking them to back down from their efforts to regulate said broadband providers. Furthermore, Yochai Benkler of the Berkman Institute asked in a recent New York Times editorial if the FCC has the determination and willpower to take on the entrenched power of broadband providers in the interest of promoting competition, innovation, and lower prices.
