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U.S. to roll out major broadband policy
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U.S. to roll out major broadband policy
John Poirier and Sinead Carew
WASHINGTON
Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:59pm EDT
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours.
Technology | Media
Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.
The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.
"This is a fairly unique event," said Paul Gallant, an analyst with Concept Capital. "The FCC really has never been asked to design a broad regulatory shift like this. Broadband is important and difficult because it threatens every established communications sector."
Some details of the plan have trickled out in the last few weeks including how to find spectrum to meet an anticipated explosion of handset devices capable of playing movies and music in addition to handling emails and voice calls.
But some carriers like AT&T Inc and Qwest Communications International Inc were irked last month when the agency's chief, Julius Genachowski, announced that the FCC would propose in the plan a goal of 100 Mbps speeds to be in place at 100 million American homes in 10 years. The current average is less than 4 Mbps.
In a sign of tension between the FCC and carriers, Qwest called it "a dream" and AT&T reacted by saying the FCC should resist calls for "extreme forms of regulation."
Since the FCC announcement, Cisco Systems Inc announced it would introduce a router that can handle Internet traffic up to 12 times faster than rival products. Google Inc has also gotten in on the hype, saying it plans to build a super-fast Internet network to show that it can be done. The FCC has praised both announcements.
The plans could also touch off tensions with television broadcasters, who will be asked to give up spectrum to wireless carriers who desperately need it for their mobile devices, such as the iPhone and Blackberry.
The FCC plans to let them share in the profits of auctions structured to redistribute the spectrum.
"We've developed a plan that is a real win-win for everyone involved and we have every expectation that it will work," Genachowski said in an interview with Reuters.
"We've certainly heard from a number of broadcasters who told us they think this is a promising direction and are getting ready to roll up their sleeves with us," he said.
The FCC also wants to make sure that anchor institutions -- government buildings, schools, libraries and healthcare facilities -- get speeds of about 1 gigabit per second by 2020.
The full broadband plan is expected to be released at a Tuesday meeting among the FCC's five members who are expected to discuss the results and recommendations of the roadmap, which was mandated by Congress. Congress may have to pass legislation to enact some portions of the plan.
FCC officials have said some of the goals are aspirational and should be viewed as a "living, breathing" document for the next decade in hopes of helping 93 million Americans without broadband get connected.
ACHIEVABLE
"It is both aspiration and achievable," Genachowski said.
The Obama administration has touted the plan as a way to create jobs and make energy use more efficient.
"It will be a call to action," said Blair Levin, who heads the FCC's broadband task force which has collected data and comments from the industry, academics and the public as well as from three dozen public workshops.
The FCC has placed most of its attention on broadband policy which Darrell West, director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, called "the signature issue" since Genachowski took over the helm in late June.
"It means that broadband is going to drive other types of policy decisions and it really sets the parameters for telecommunications and new applications," West said.
FCC officials have said that the plan will not take sides on technology or applications, but they want to lay the groundwork to spur innovation and job creation.
Officials have said the plan will ask Congress to fund up to $16 billion to build an emergency public safety system.
It would also tell lawmakers that a one-time injection of $9 billion could accelerate broadband reach to the 4 percent of Americans who do have access. Otherwise they could let the FCC carry out a 10-year plan to realign an $8 billion U.S. subsidy program for universal broadband access instead of universal phone access.
Experts call the plan ambitious but question if the FCC, which plans to spin off a series of rule-making proposals linked to the plan, can realistically make good on its recommendations.
"There's so little progress on this stuff in Washington," said Rob Atkinson, who heads the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
"I think Chairman Genachowski has a real opportunity to bring different warring interests under 50-75 percent of the plan."
(Reporting by John Poirier and Sinead Carew, editing by Matthew Lewis)
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See All Comments (8) | Post Comment
Mar 14, 2010 8:46pm EDT
I’ll believe that when I see it
STORY-BURN
Report As Abusive
Mar 14, 2010 8:48pm EDT
Translation: YOUR broadband bill from Comcast or whatever doubles due to fees to pay for this, and the welfare sponges get it for free so they can surf porn while not working.
StupidDemocrats
Report As Abusive
Mar 14, 2010 9:07pm EDT
It is always interesting to see where “Ludite’s are,”
No progress it will ruin our profits!
The1eyedman
Report As Abusive
Mar 14, 2010 9:39pm EDT
Lets start with truth in advertising first and after the rates double for the faster speed we can the brains behind this sceme.
Critic
Report As Abusive
Mar 14, 2010 9:51pm EDT
The roads and bridges of this country are in terriable shape, the electric grid is about to fold and we need to fix broadband speeds first. Glad to see our money is going to the right people to guide us forward
TrikyPony
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Mar 14, 2010 10:13pm EDT
America’s communications industry will improve 100% overnight as soon as the FCC and PUC grow teeth, and the vile juggernaut known as AT&T is out of the picture. Speed the day!
HBC
Report As Abusive
Mar 15, 2010 1:46am EDT
I believe that I am a little cynical when it comes to internet speeds. I have had a few different carriers and never find that they live up to their names. I would love to see 100 mbps and will be excited when it actually happens.
lbhamilton27
Report As Abusive
Mar 15, 2010 3:08am EDT
“that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours” – Nice. But how is this going to improve the economic situation? By allowing more people to circumvent Hollywood copy protections by downloading from Pirate Bay and the like? By allowing more people to stay up late into the night browsing pornography?
You can’t just use a scattergun approach to this sort of thing. They should seed-fund ultra-fast broadband to industrial and business administration complexes… And let the fast access spread from the workplace gradually into the home.
compsci
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