Broadband is the great
infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century.
Like electricity a century ago,
broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job
creation, global competitiveness and a better way of
life. It is enabling entire new industries and
unlocking vast new possibilities for existing ones.
It is changing how we educate children, deliver
health care, manage energy, ensure public safety,
engage government, and access, organize and
disseminate knowledge.
Fueled primarily by private
sector investment and innovation, the American
broadband ecosystem has evolved rapidly. The number
of Americans who have broadband at home has grown
from eight million in 2000 to nearly 200 million
last year. Increasingly capable fixed and mobile
networks allow Americans to access a growing number
of valuable applications through innovative devices.
But broadband in America is not
all it needs to be. Approximately 100 million
Americans do not have broadband at home.
Broadband-enabled health information technology (IT)
can improve care and lower costs by hundreds of
billions of dollars in the coming decades, yet the
United States is behind many advanced countries in
the adoption of such technology. Broadband can
provide teachers with tools that allow students to
learn the same course material in half the time, but
there is a dearth of easily accessible digital
educational content required for such opportunities.
A broadband-enabled Smart Grid could increase energy
independence and efficiency, but much of the data
required to capture these benefits are inaccessible
to consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs. And
nearly a decade after 9/11, our first responders
still lack a nationwide public safety mobile
broadband communications network, even though such a
network could improve emergency response and
homeland security.
Fulfilling the Congressional
Mandate
In early 2009, Congress directed
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to
develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure every
American has “access to broadband capability.”
Congress also required that this plan include a
detailed strategy for achieving affordability and
maximizing use of broadband to advance “consumer
welfare, civic participation, public safety and
homeland security, community development, health
care delivery, energy independence and efficiency,
education, employee training, private sector
investment, entrepreneurial activity, job creation
and economic growth, and other national purposes.”
Broadband networks only create
value to consumers and businesses when they are used
in conjunction with broadband-capable devices to
deliver useful applications and content. To fulfill
Congress’s mandate, the plan seeks to ensure that
the entire broadband ecosystem—networks, devices,
content and applications— is healthy. It makes
recommendations to the FCC, the Executive Branch,
Congress and state and local governments.
The Plan
Government can influence the
broadband ecosystem in four ways:
1. Design policies to ensure
robust competition and, as a result maximize
consumer welfare, innovation and investment.
2. Ensure efficient allocation
and management of assets government controls or
influences, such as spectrum, poles, and
rights-of-way, to encourage network upgrades and
competitive entry.
3. Reform current universal
service mechanisms to support deployment of
broadband and voice in high-cost areas; and ensure
that low-income Americans can afford broadband; and
in addition, support efforts to boost adoption and
utilization.
4. Reform laws, policies,
standards and incentives to maximize the benefits of
broadband in sectors government influences
significantly, such as public education, health care
and government operations.
1. Establishing competition
policies. Policymakers, including the FCC, have a
broad set of tools to protect and encourage
competition in the markets that make up the
broadband ecosystem: network services, devices,
applications and content. The plan contains multiple
recommendations that will foster competition across
the ecosystem. They include the following:
• Collect, analyze, benchmark
and publish detailed, market-by-market information
on broadband pricing and competition, which will
likely have direct impact on competitive behavior
(e.g., through benchmarking of pricing across
geographic markets). This will also enable the FCC
and other agencies to apply appropriate remedies
when competition is lacking in specific
geographies or market segments.
• Develop disclosure
requirements for broadband service providers to
ensure consumers have the pricing and performance
information they need to choose the best broadband
offers in the market. Increased transparency will
incent service providers to compete for customers
on the basis of actual performance.
• Undertake a comprehensive
review of wholesale competition rules to help
ensure competition in fixed and mobile broadband
services.
• Free up and allocate
additional spectrum for unlicensed use, fostering
ongoing innovation and competitive entry.
• Update rules for wireless
backhaul spectrum to increase capacity in urban
areas and range in rural areas.
• Expedite action on data
roaming to determine how best to achieve wide,
seamless and competitive coverage, encourage
mobile broadband providers to construct and build
networks, and promote entry and competition.
• Change rules to ensure a
competitive and innovative video set-top box
market, to be consistent with Section 629 of the
Telecommunications Act. The Act says that the FCC
should ensure that its rules achieve a competitive
market in video “navigation devices,” or set-top
boxes—the devices consumers use to access much of
the video they watch today.
• Clarify the Congressional
mandate allowing state and local entities to
provide broadband in their communities and do so
in ways that use public resources more
effectively.
• Clarify the relationship
between users and their online profiles to enable
continued innovation and competition in
applications and ensure consumer privacy,
including the obligations of firms collecting
personal information to allow consumers to know
what information is being collected, consent to
such collection, correct it if necessary, and
control disclosure of such personal information to
third parties.
2. Ensuring efficient allocation
and use of government-owned and
government-influenced assets. Government establishes
policies for the use of spectrum and oversees access
to poles, conduits, rooftops and rights-of-way,
which are used in the deployment of broadband
networks. Government also finances a large number of
infrastructure projects. Ensuring these assets and
resources are allocated and managed efficiently can
encourage deployment of broadband infrastructure and
lower barriers to competitive entry. The plan
contains a number of recommendations to accomplish
these goals. They include the following:
• Spectrum is a major input for
providers of broadband service. Currently, the FCC
has only 50 megahertz in inventory, just a
fraction of the amount that will be necessary to
match growing demand. More efficient allocation
and assignment of spectrum will reduce deployment
costs, drive investment and benefit consumers
through better performance and lower prices. The
recommendations on spectrum policy include the
following:
o Make 500 megahertz of
spectrum newly available for broadband within 10
years, of which 300 megahertz should be made
available for mobile use within five years.
o Enable incentives and
mechanisms to repurpose spectrum to more
flexible uses. Mechanisms include incentive
auctions, which allow auction proceeds to be
shared in an equitable manner with current
licensees as market demands change. These would
benefit both spectrum holders and the American
public. The public could benefit from additional
spectrum for high-demand uses and from new
auction revenues. Incumbents, meanwhile, could
recognize a portion of the value of enabling new
uses of spectrum. For example, this would allow
the FCC to share auction proceeds with
broadcasters who voluntarily agree to use
technology to continue traditional broadcast
services with less spectrum.
o Ensure greater transparency
of spectrum allocation, assignment and use
through an FCC-created spectrum dashboard to
foster an efficient secondary market.
o Expand opportunities for
innovative spectrum access models by creating
new avenues for opportunistic and unlicensed use
of spectrum and increasing research into new
spectrum technologies.
• Infrastructure such as poles,
conduits, rooftops and rights-of-way play an
important role in the economics of broadband
networks. Ensuring service providers can access
these resources efficiently and at fair prices can
drive upgrades and facilitate competitive entry.
In addition, testbeds can drive innovation of
next-generation applications and, ultimately, may
promote infrastructure deployment. Recommendations
to optimize infrastructure use include:
o Establish low and more
uniform rental rates for access to poles, and
simplify and expedite the process for service
providers to attach facilities to poles.
o Improve rights-of-way
management for cost and time savings, promote
use of federal facilities for broadband,
expedite resolution of disputes and identify and
establish “best practices” guidelines for
rights-of-way policies and fee practices that
are consistent with broadband deployment.
o Facilitate efficient new
infrastructure construction, including through
“dig-once” policies that would make federal
financing of highway, road and bridge projects
contingent on states and localities allowing
joint deployment of broadband infrastructure.
o Provide ultra-high-speed
broadband connectivity to select U.S. Department
of Defense installations to enable the
development of next-generation broadband
applications for military personnel and their
families living on base.
3. Creating incentives for
universal availability and adoption of broadband.
Three elements must be in place to ensure all
Americans have the opportunity to reap the benefits
of broadband. All Americans should have access to
broadband service with sufficient capabilities, all
should be able to afford broadband and all should
have the opportunity to develop digital literacy
skills to take advantage of broadband.
Recommendations to promote universal broadband
deployment and adoption include the following:
• Ensure universal access to
broadband network services.
o Create the Connect America
Fund (CAF) to support the provision of
affordable broadband and voice with at least 4
Mbps actual download speeds and shift up to
$15.5 billion over the next decade from the
existing Universal Service Fund (USF) program to
support broadband. If Congress wishes to
accelerate the deployment of broadband to
unserved areas and otherwise smooth the
transition of the Fund, it could make available
public funds of a few billion dollars per year
over two to three years.
o Create a Mobility Fund to
provide targeted funding to ensure no states are
lagging significantly behind the national
average for 3G wireless coverage. Such 3G
coverage is widely expected to be the basis for
the future footprint of 4G mobile broadband
networks.
o Transition the “legacy”
High-Cost component of the USF over the next 10
years and shift all resources to the new funds.
The $4.6 billion per year High Cost component of
the USF was designed to support primarily voice
services. It will be replaced over time by the
CAF.
o Reform intercarrier
compensation, which provides implicit subsidies
to telephone companies by eliminating per-minute
charges over the next 10 years and enabling
adequate cost recovery through the CAF.
o Design the new Connect
America Fund and Mobility Fund in a
tax-efficient manner to minimize the size of the
broadband availability gap and thereby reduce
contributions borne by consumers.
o Broaden the USF
contribution base to ensure USF remains
sustainable over time.
• Create mechanisms to ensure
affordability to low-income Americans.
• Expand the Lifeline and
Link-Up programs by allowing subsidies provided to
low-income Americans to be used for broadband.
o Consider licensing a block
of spectrum with a condition to offer free or
low-cost service that would create affordable
alternatives for consumers, reducing the burden
on USF.
• Ensure every American has the
opportunity to become digitally literate.
o Launch a National Digital
Literacy Corps to organize and train youth and
adults to teach digital literacy skills and
enable private sector programs addressed at
breaking adoption barriers.
4. Updating policies, setting
standards and aligning incentives to maximize use
for national priorities. Federal, Tribal, state and
local governments play an important role in many
sectors of our economy. Government is the largest
health care payor in the country, operates the
public education system, regulates many aspects of
the energy industry, provides multiple services to
its citizens and has primary responsibility for
homeland security. The plan includes recommendations
designed to unleash increased use, private sector
investment and innovation in these areas. They
include the following:
• Health care. Broadband can
help improve the quality and lower the cost of
health care through health IT and improved data
capture and use, which will enable clearer
understanding of the most effective treatments and
processes. To achieve these objectives, the plan
has recommendations that will:
o Help ensure health care
providers have access to affordable broadband by
transforming the FCC’s Rural Health Care
Program.
o Create incentives for
adoption by expanding reimbursement for e-care.
o Remove barriers to e-care
by modernizing regulations like device approval,
credentialing, privileging and licensing.
o Drive innovative
applications and advanced analytics by ensuring
patients have control over their health data and
ensuring interoperability of data.
• Education. Broadband can
enable improvements in public education through
e-learning and online content, which can provide
more personalized learning opportunities for
students. Broadband can also facilitate the flow
of information, helping teachers, parents, schools
and other organizations to make better decisions
tied to each student’s needs and abilities. To
those ends, the plan includes recommendations to:
o Improve the connectivity to
schools and libraries by upgrading the FCC’s
E-Rate program to increase flexibility, improve
program efficiency and foster innovation by
promoting the most promising solutions and
funding wireless connectivity to learning
devices that go home with students.
Accelerate online
learning by enabling the creation of digital
content and learning systems, removing
regulatory barriers and promoting digital
literacy.
Personalize learning and
improve decision–making by fostering adoption
of electronic educational records and
improving financial data transparency in
education.
• Energy and the environment.
Broadband can play a major role in the transition
to a clean energy economy. America can use these
innovations to reduce carbon pollution, improve
our energy efficiency and lessen our dependence on
foreign oil. To achieve these objectives, the plan
has recommendations that will:
o Modernize the electric grid
with broadband, making it more reliable and
efficient.
o Unleash energy innovation
in homes and buildings by making energy data
readily accessible to consumers.
o Improve the energy
efficiency and environmental impact of the ICT
sector.
• Economic opportunity.
Broadband can expand access to jobs and training,
support entrepreneurship and small business growth
and strengthen community development efforts. The
plan includes recommendations to:
o Support broadband choice
and small businesses’ use of broadband services
and applications to drive job creation, growth
and productivity gains.
o Expand opportunities for
job training and placement through an online
platform.
o Integrate broadband
assessment and planning into economic
development efforts.
• Government performance and
civic engagement. Within government, broadband can
drive greater efficiency and effectiveness in
service delivery and internal operations. It can
also improve the quantity and quality of civic
engagement by providing a platform for meaningful
engagement with representatives and agencies.
Through its own use of broadband, government can
support local efforts to deploy broadband,
particularly in unserved communities. To achieve
these goals, the plan includes recommendations to:
o Allow state and local
governments to purchase broadband from federal
contracts such as Networx.
o Improve government
performance and operations through cloud
computing, cybersecurity, secure authentication
and online service delivery.
o Increase civic engagement
by making government more open and transparent,
creating a robust public media ecosystem and
modernizing the democratic process.
• Public safety and homeland
security. Broadband can bolster efforts to improve
public safety and homeland security by allowing
first responders to send and receive video and
data, by ensuring all Americans can access
emergency services and improving the way Americans
are notified about emergencies. To achieve these
objectives, the plan makes recommendations to:
o Support deployment of a
nationwide, interoperable public safety mobile
broadband network, with funding of up to $6.5
billion in capital expenditures over 10 years,
which could be reduced through cost efficiency
measures and other programs. Additional funding
will be required for operating expenses.
o Promote innovation in the
development and deployment of next-generation
911 and emergency alert systems.
o Promote cybersecurity and
critical infrastructure survivability to
increase user confidence, trust and adoption of
broadband communications.
Long-Term Goals
In addition to the
recommendations above, the plan recommends that the
country adopt and track the following six goals to
serve as a compass over the next decade.
Goal No. 1: At least 100 million
U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual
download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second
and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per
second.
Goal No. 2: The United States
should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the
fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any
nation.
Goal No. 3: Every American should
have affordable access to robust broadband service,
and the means and skills to subscribe if they so
choose.
Goal No. 4: Every American
community should have affordable access to at least
1 gigabit per second broadband service to anchor
institutions such as schools, hospitals and
government buildings.
Goal No. 5: To ensure the safety
of the American people, every first responder should
have access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable
broadband public safety network.
Goal No. 6: To ensure that
America leads in the clean energy economy, every
American should be able to use broadband to track
and manage their real-time energy consumption.
Meeting these six goals will help
achieve the Congressional mandate of using broadband
to achieve national purposes, while improving the
economics of deployment and adoption. In particular,
the first two goals will create the world’s most
attractive market for broadband applications,
devices and infrastructure and ensure America has
the infrastructure to attract the leading
communications and IT applications, devices and
technologies. The third goal, meanwhile, will ensure
every American has the opportunity to take advantage
of the benefits broadband offers, including improved
health care, better education, access to a greater
number of economic opportunities and greater civic
participation.
Budget Impact of Plan
Given the plan’s goal of freeing
500 megahertz of spectrum, future wireless auctions
mean the overall plan will be revenue neutral, if
not revenue positive. The vast majority of
recommendations do not require new government
funding; rather, they seek to drive improvements in
government efficiency, streamline processes and
encourage private activity to promote consumer
welfare and national priorities. The funding
requests relate to public safety, deployment to
unserved areas and adoption efforts. If the spectrum
auction recommendations are implemented, the plan is
likely to offset the potential costs.
Implementation
The plan is in beta, and always
will be. Like the Internet itself, the plan will
always be changing—adjusting to new developments in
technologies and markets, reflecting new realities,
and evolving to realize the unforeseen opportunities
of a particular time. As such, implementation
requires a long-term commitment to measuring
progress and adjusting programs and policies to
improve performance.
Half of the recommendations in
this plan are offered to the FCC. To begin
implementation, the FCC will:
• Quickly publish a timetable
of proceedings to implement plan recommendations
within its authority.
• Publish an evaluation of plan
progress and effectiveness as part of its annual
706 Advanced Services Inquiry.
• Create a Broadband Data
Depository as a public resource for broadband
information.
The remaining half of the
recommendations are offered to the Executive Branch,
Congress and state and local governments.
Policymakers alone, though, cannot ensure success.
Industry, non-profits, and government together with
the American people, must now act and rise to our
era’s infrastructure challenge.
Federal Communications Commission
United States of America |