Back in April 2009, the FCC took its first major step towards making widespread broadband adoption a reality in the United States by pledging to recommend a plan of action on the matter within a year. On Tuesday, that plan of action, which is designed to make Internet the primary communications medium in the country, will finally be submitted to Congress.
Early indications are that the 10-year plan will cost billions of dollars (but should pay for itself sooner or later) and attract the ire of telecommunications companies reluctant to see the government interfere with the market and unwilling to make room for Internet providers.
Reports the New York Times:
According to F.C.C. officials briefed on the plan, the commission’s recommendations will include a subsidy for Internet providers to wire rural parts of the country now without access, a controversial auction of some broadcast spectrum to free up space for wireless devices, and the development of a new universal set-top box that connects to the Internet and cable service.
The effort will influence billions of dollars in federal spending, although the F.C.C. will argue that the plan should pay for itself through the spectrum auctions. Some recommendations will require Congressional action and industry support, and will affect users only years from now.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the primary trade organization representing the cable industry, has responded positively to the plan but argues that limited regulation, coupled with investment incentives, is the best vehicle for spreading broadband access.
NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow provided a peppy ‘series of consumer principles’ in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday that he says the government should respect as it considers the broadband plan.
Most notably, McSlarrow argued against federally mandating an all-in-one set-top box that turns televisions into Internet-capable devices and reiterated his desire that customer choice be protected throughout the process.
But as Business Week observes, not everyone supports keeping the government out of this:
Broken down by megabit per second of download speed, U.S. rates ranged from $2.83 to $38.41 in late 2007. Rates in Japan started as low as 13¢ for one megabit per second, while France, Sweden, Korea, Finland, Australia, and others all start off at lower prices than the U.S. Furthermore, residents of European and Asian countries tend to have access to far speedier broadband options than Americans.
Consumer advocacy groups blame what they see as a market with little competition. They say the ability of major telephone and cable operators to dominate their markets without sharing their lines with rivals has kept out new competition, enabling the companies to keep prices high and investments in faster technologies low.
Turner and other consumer advocates are calling for the FCC to spur competition by requiring providers in certain regions to lease their high-speed lines at regulated prices to other providers.
The U.S. is ranked 15th among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development for broadband availability, though the poor showing is largely because smaller countries have an easier time connecting their populations to the Web.
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