The FCC has just published a scan of the 6 page document (seriously, the American government rocks my socks!) that they’re going to give to Congress in hopes that they’ll meet their demands. Within the first two paragraphs you can tell the FCC really cares about broadband, and are going so far as to call it as important as electricity. They acknowledge that there roughly 100 million citizens who don’t have access to high speed internet, and that America as a whole is behind many other advanced nations, so what do they plan on doing about it?
First, the FCC wants to publish detailed benchmarks of broadband speeds in every market in the USA. They also want broadband providers to cut the bullshit when telling consumers how fast the broadband they’re selling actually is.
Second, they want to free up 500 MHz of spectrum within the next 10 years, with 300 MHz of that being dedicated to mobile use and made free within 5 years time. To do that the FCC has to make incentives for people who already have spectrum to give some up. If you have 30 minutes then watch what the inventor of the mobile phone has to say about spectrum and how America is going to fix its capacity problem going forward.
Third, make the process of building networks faster by allowing wireless operators the use of poles, conduits, and even roof tops, to use for deploying network equipment.
There’s also a few points about communities and healthcare, but come on, I know you only care about how fast your mobile phone loads up IntoMobile.com
Now what sort of goals has the FCC setup for themselves? In 10 years they want: at least 100 million homes to have 100 megabit per second download speeds, and 50 megabit per second upload speeds. They want the USA to have the fastest, and largest, wireless network in the world. They want each and every American citizen to have access to affordable broadband. They want schools, hospitals, and government buildings to have 1 gigabit per second broadband. They want emergency services to have access to their own wireless nationwide network. And finally, they want America to lead the world in the green economy by letting every American track their energy use in real time using broadband.
Those are some pretty hefty goals. Will America be able to achieve them?
[PDF of the Broadband Plan; hat tip to Phone Scoop]