The National Broadband Plan

On Tuesday of this week the FCC delivered their National Broadband Plan to Congress. At 376 pages, it's not a quick read (I'm on page 81). It is, however, full of interesting information on the state of the market, and rich with ideas on how to extend broadband networks to a stated goal of 100 million U.S. households by 2015.

In general, the Plan does a good job teeing up all the major issues the country faces in delivering broadband to everyone at a reasonable cost. The Plan recognizes the need to have an open access to infrastructure to encourage the upgrade to fiber, to increase the available spectrum for wireless broadband, to address delivering broadband to lower income or disadvantaged groups and to standardize the way broadband services are marketed so consumers can compare offerings more easily.

What remains to be seen is how well the FCC and all the inter-related agencies work with Congress to implement their recommendations. A major disappointment is that the hot topic of net neutrality is not addressed. Instead, the FCC summarizes the topic and acknowledges that discussions are continuing - a missed opportunity for the FCC to show real leadership.

Scanning through the Plan, there are a few points that stand out. I've taken the liberty of paraphrasing the recommendation statements below shown in italics:

The Good

Make spectrum more available in order to foster additional wireless-wireline competition at higher speed tiers (Recommendation 4.1)

A lot of spectrum is taken up by traditional TV bands. This spectrum has excellent propagation characteristics that make it ideal to deliver mobile broadband services. The Plan calls for reallocating 120 megahertz while leaving the existing, free broadcast TV system intact. In addition, the Plan proposes auctioning the 10 megahertz Upper 700 MHz D Block for commercial use that is technically compatible with public safety broadband services and making up to 60 megahertz available by auctioning Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) bands. All of these actions will stimulate market investment and growth of competitive offerings.

Make it easier to compare broadband offerings (Recommendation 4.5)

This is akin to mileage-per-gallon labels on cars. While not always a true representation of your mileage, the MPG ratings at least provide an expected MPG range based on a standard set of guidelines. Having the same available for broadband providers would be a great help to consumers who today are faced with a confusing array of techno-jargon.

Develop open, standard networking protocols for home set-top boxes (Recommendation 4.12)

Set-top boxes are the critical link to landline broadband services. The Plan proposes that broadband service providers install a gateway device in all new subscriber homes and in all homes requiring replacement set-top boxes, by Dec. 31, 2012. In today's world, these boxes use proprietary technologies, thereby limiting the ability to easily switch between broadband service providers. The intent of this recommendation is to crack open the set-top box dominance held by Cisco and Motorola (95% market share in North America), create more competition and innovation and make it easier for consumers to change providers.

Fund the Plan by shifting money from the outdated telephony-focused USF to a new funds focused on broadband (Recommendation 8.6)

It's refreshing to find the topic of cost addressed in this report. Rolling out broadband services nationally is going to take time and a lot of money. The FCC proposes shifting up to $15.5 billion over the next decade from the current Universal Service Fund's "High-Cost" program (there are three others as well) to broadband through a set of reforms. One of those reforms is to create a Connect America Fund and a Mobility Fund to ensure access to both broadband and mobility services in areas where their is no private sector business case to do so.


The Not So Good

Establish a national framework for digital goods and services taxation (Recommendation 4.20)

Yikes! We've managed to create a burgeoning commerce industry based on the Internet without Government taxation getting in the way. Why would we chose to impede growth by introducing burdensome taxation at time when the country is launching a national effort to expand access?

Launch a National Digital Literacy Program that creates a Digital Literacy Corps and an Online Digital Literacy Portal (Recommendation 9.3)

The goal to increase digital literacy across America is a noble one. The Plan notes that 22% of non-adopters cite digital literacy as their main barrier to broadband adoption. That said, I'm less convinced that this should be addressed at the Federal level instead of at the State or Local level. The proposal to create an online digital portal and fund a nationwide network of digital literacy training programs runs the risk of becoming a massive, inefficient government bureaucracy at a time when we can least afford it. In fact, the report cites an example in Chicago that I think makes the case for not creating a Government-run program . In 42 locations across Chicago, a group of young volunteers mostly in their 20s, work in conjunction with the Chicago Public Library to help people with basic computing skills and even advanced trouble shooting skills. Sounds likes a great model! Left alone, more of these initiatives will likely spring up on their own.

Final Thoughts

The National Broadband Plans is a solid piece of work. Some of the tougher issues, such as net neutrality were side stepped, but overall there is a good framework in place to move forward. The key will be how these recommendations move from planning to implementation over the coming months.