FCC Broadband Plan is Out

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Technology Thursday

I'm traveling this week and had my first experience of using the Internet from 35,000 feet while on a plane equipped with "Wifi on board!" After the novelty wore off, it felt pretty routine - a way to try to do some work while crammed into a tin can next to dozens of other grumpy and occasionally smelly people. I took a little bit to take a look at the new Broadband Plan that the Federal Communications Commission just issued. From the FCC press release:

Titled “Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan,” the Plan found that while broadband access and use have increased over the past decade, the nation must do much more to connect all individuals and the economy to broadband’s transformative benefits. Nearly 100 million Americans lack broadband at home today, and 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband even if they want it.

Here's the Plan itself. There are lots of interesting components. From a blogger perspective, one that may be of particular relevance is the chapter on civic engagement. This part of the plan recommends:

• open and transparent government
• a robust digital media ecosystem, including possible amendments to the Copyright Act
• expanded use of social media
• increased innovation within government
• modernizing democratic processes

All of these sound good, but as always the details matter. And, this is just a set of recommendations, so it remains to be seen what will be acted on. Other topics covered in the report include health care, education, energy and the environment, economic opportunity, government performance, and public safety.

PC World offers a quick rundown of some reactions to the plan as a whole, and they are decidedly mixed. And some probably read it into what they expected or wanted to see, as opposed to reading the text of the thing itself, which often happens with these sorts of documents. Although, having not read, much less digested, the entire report yet myself, I'm really the pot calling the kettle black here!

Comments

[Lyn]

The Economist is not impressed:
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15732610subjectID=348909fsrc=nwl