FCC Broadband Plan Gets Praise from Private Sector: [18th Mar 2010]

The FCC have finally released their national broadband plan this week and one of the major goals emerging, has been its hope to bring broadband to all US residents. The FCC have agreed to approve a two page statement on their goals, but each of their 200 proposals will need to be approved separately by bodies such as the Federal Trades Commission and the Homeland Security Department. The plan calls for an increase in download speeds to 100Mbps, an increase in the adoption rate to 90% and to ensure that all children leave school knowing how to use the Internet. They want to encourage competition between providers and bring cheap broadband to rural areas. They also hope to bring 1Gigabit broadband to hospitals, schools and the military.


Another of the plans and perhaps the most controversial, is to shrink the spectrum allocated to TV broadcasters by around 40% over the next five years. The spectrum would then be used by providers of broadband services. The FCC believes that the trade-off between possible loss of TV channels and the increased speed and capacity of the broadband network is worthwhile. Just 10% of the population still watches free to air TV and only half the spectrum available is actually used. TV broadcasters are not happy however and are working towards lobbying Capitol Hill. Lawyers for the broadcasters have said that the FCC is taking an aggressive stance on spectrum. The FCC have also said that some of the spectrum will come from government agencies and that at first, the auctioning of spectrum will be voluntary.


Estimates to implement these plans have been put at $350bn and who will be paying the bill is not known. Experts have suggested that it will be split between government and the private sector. Some of the cash will come from selling spectrum and some from the stimulus fund.


Google CEO Eric Schmidt has spoken out on the FCC broadband plan this week and said that the plan will set goals for expanding broadband and will lay the foundation for increased growth in the US. He pointed out that while the US invented the Internet (I'm sure that was just a slip of the tongue and he knows that it was invented by a British guy working in the US for a French company), they have fallen behind when it came to introducing faster speeds. He said that America needs to act now to allow US businesses to thrive. He compared the broadband race to that of the space race of the 1960's and encouraged all citizen to get behind the plans.


Verizon have also commented on the broadband plan this week and have said that they strongly support it. The Verizon executive vice president Tom Tauke said in a statement that the plan identifies the barrier to swift deployment and proposes ways of overcoming them. He comments that the people behind the plan should be commended for coming up with a coherent plan. He does point out however that achieving the vision may prove difficult. He suggest that private investment will be required and therefore the plans need to encourage investment.


A further statement from Sprint has also commended the plan in particular the pro-competitive recommendations. They believe this will increase jobs in the sector, spur investment and bring lower prices to all. A spokesperson from Sprint has said that they will be reviewing the specific plans and hope to work with the FCC to help implement them. They also point out that Sprint has long advocated a public safety system involving the use of broadband, a recommendation which appears in the plan.


Sprint is rumored to be on the verge of releasing a handset for use on their Wimax wireless broadband network. A report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that the handset would be named the Supersonic and could reach the market for the summer. It would be the first handset to use the Wimax network, which is currently being tested in a number of locations around the US, ahead of its nationwide introduction.


The FCC is asking for people around the country to tell them what speed their network is running at. Users can visit broadband.gov to test their speeds and give their address. The FCC say they will use this data to analyze broadband quality on a geographic basis. It is the first time the FCC have offered broadband users the chance to check their realtime speeds. The are using Ookla and M-Lab software to do the testing and each user can choose which piece of software they would prefer to use. Neither is described by the FCC as being definitive, but both will offer information and opportunity for comparison.