FCC Kicks Off Effort to Develop a National Broadband Plan
Apr 8, 2009
At its public meeting in D.C. earlier today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took the first step toward creation of a national broadband plan by voting to formally adopt a Notice of Inquiry to solicit input from the public.
In addition to earmarking about $7 billion in funding for improving broadband in underserved areas via NTIA and RUS grants and loans, the Recovery Act requires the FCC to present Congress with a comprehensive national plan for ensuring that all Americans have access to broadband. And it gives the FCC until February 17th of next year to get it done.
Acting FCC chairman Michael Copps, who joined the Commission in 2001, described it as the beginning of "what we should have done years ago--make a plan for how the United States becomes the world's broadband beacon."
To accomplish such a huge undertaking, chairman Copps called for "maximum public input" from all stakeholders. According to him, "instead of trying to resolve every contentious issue that has fueled so many years of seemingly-endless debates over telecommunications -- debates that have too often deflected us from the progress we should have been making -- we will go in quest of practical suggestions that can be deployed in time to respond to the economic and many other challenges facing us."
If you would like to provide suggestions to the Commission, you can find details on the Notice of Inquiry and instructions for submitting your comments in this PDF (note the comment date is June 8, 2009).
We'll also be exploring this topic in detail at our TPS: Broadband Innovation conference that is taking place on May 11th in San Mateo, CA in conjunction with the 3rd annual Tech Policy Summit.
Tags:
broadband, FCC, Michael Copps, NTIA, Recovery Act, RUS, stimulus
