Group items tagged

"Nearly two weeks remain before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to deliver its national broadband plan to Congress. But analysts are already picking potential winners and losers based on key themes that have already been identified, such as mobile broadband networks and spectrum swaps. The plan's overarching goal is to give all Americans access to affordable, high-speed broadband Internet."

"The Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, announced last week, is aimed at providing nearly universal, affordable broadband service by 2020. And while it takes many admirable steps - including very important efforts toward opening space in the broadcast spectrum - it does not address the source of the access problem: without a major policy shift to increase competition, broadband service in the United States will continue to lag far behind the rest of the developed world."

"The details as to how the FCC plans to go from having 50 MHz available for mobile broadband today to 500 MHz in 10 years will result in a pretty big legislative battle as the FCC tries to nab broadcaster spectrum and incumbents and tech firms position to own large chunks of those valuable airwaves."

"Apple's iPad is due in late March, pending FCC approval, and on the FCC's official broadband blog, Director/Scenario Planning Phil Bellaria and Wireless Bureau Deputy Chief John Leibovitz say there may be trouble ahead if the device drives up demand for mobile broadband. They write that the iPad announcement on January 27 "set off a new round of reports of networks overburdened by a data flow they were not build to handle," saying the problems are reminiscent of the outages AOL users ran into when the then-dialup service went to unlimited use in 1996 -- problems that persisted for months."

""The FCC's new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. The FCC is also collecting information about where broadband is not available."

"One provision, a "Mobile Future Auction," calls for a spectrum auction that allows current licensees, including broadcasters, to voluntarily give up spectrum in exchange for a share of auction proceeds. This provision, which has drawn the ire of the National Association of Broadcasters trade group, is one element of a plan to free up 500 MHz of spectrum over the next decade for mobile broadband use."

A blog post covering a grassroots organizing effort to address the digital divide. Makjia Cyril argues that the cable companies are offering a false choice by tying broadband build out to net neutrality. An interesting perspective from outside the traditional media.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke today about some of the likely recommendations in the National Broadband Plan. Among them is a goal of 100 million households at speeds of 100 Megabits per second."

"FCC officials commissioned a study from Yochai Benkler at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. They wanted to know more about how people in other countries connect to the Internet. Benkler says broadband in other developed countries is generally faster and cheaper than it is in the U.S. "You're looking at prices in the leading countries that are a third or a fifth of the prices that we're paying - and they're getting better speeds for it. So the differences are not subtle based on what we found," Benkler says."

"Federal regulators are proposing to expand broadband services by tapping a program that now subsidizes phone service in poor and rural areas."

Industry reaction to FCC ruling on Broadband Auction.

The FCC is encouraging consumers to test their broadband speeds, and different areas of the country are showing some interesting results: D.C. and the greater Washington and New York areas enjoy the fastest service, with California performing slower than expected.

This blog post situates the ambitious Google Fiber project against recently announced FCC plans to spur faster broadband development. The article also discusses issues of media regulation, specifically pricing and competition.

The FCC conducted a survey identifying several barriers to broadband access amongst those who are unwired, with prices being the biggest factor. The FCC will submit a national broadband plan to congress next month

For many Americans, having high-speed access to the Internet at home is as vital as electricity, heat and water. And yet about one-third of the population, 93 million people, have elected not to connect.

2 large broadband providers are bringing out all the stops to fight open-Internet rules proposed by the FCC Chairman. It would unravel one of Genachowski's key initiatives.

Gaming industry executives gather for an online round panel exploring several industry developments that are leading to increasing growth in the video game sector. Increased broadband access, open platforms, new platforms and other structural developments are cited.

Clyburn is new to her job at the FCC, but she is championing consumer focused issues and wants to help low-income, minority and rural communities get better computer training to adopt broadband.

"Federal regulators trying to bring high-speed Internet connections to all Americans will propose tapping the government program that now subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas. The Federal Communications Commission will include a proposal to revamp the Universal Service Fund as part of a national broadband plan due to Congress on March 17. Although the proposal itself has been expected for months, Friday's announcement offered the first solid details."

FCC has created a mobile application that tests the speed and quality of broadband connection.

Broadband companies are questioning the FCC's ability to regulate the Internet over fears they may be regulated similar to telephone companies. Chariman Genachowski remains adamant he will push ahead.