Sen. Rockefeller wants FCC action to bring broadband to West Virginia and rest of nation

At an April 15 Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller urged the FCC to take steps to provide incentives for broadband expansion.

"Every day that goes by without action, communities without broadband in West Virginia and every other state risk falling further behind," Rockefeller pointed out, noting that 1 in 5 residents of his home state do not have access to high-speed connections.

FCC Chair Julius Genachowski defended the National Broadband Plan, as well as the agency's plan to move forward on its broadband regulation.

The Commission is currently reviewing the proposed sale of Verizon lines to Frontier in West Virginia and 13 other states. The Communications Workers of America and others have joined in calling the sale a bad deal that will make it difficult for the nation to meet the National Broadband Plan deployment goals.

While Verizon has recently moved to extend fiber service to many of its customers, Frontier has only made commitments to deploy service as speeds between 1 and 3 megabits per second. This is far below the FCC's stated goal in the National Broadband Plan.

Senators grill FCC chief over National Broadband Plan (BroadbandBreakfast)

Telecom workers, supporters rally at FCC against proposed sale of Verizon landlines to Frontier (Speedmatters)