FCC's Genachowski & Levin lay out National Broadband Plan process

Newly confirmed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski emphasized the importance of providing every American access to affordable high speed Internet connections at the first open Commission meeting of his term. Genachowski said in his speech at the meeting:

"We must find ways to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband. We must devise a detailed strategy to ensure affordability of broadband. We must evaluate the nation's deployment of broadband, including via federal grants. And we must ensure that our broadband infrastructure and services advance national purposes, including job creation and economic growth--whose importance was emphasized by today's new unemployment numbers--education, health care, energy, public safety, civic participation and many others."

The FCC will be developing a National Broadband Plan - as mandated in the broadband stimulus portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - that must be delivered to Congress in February 2010. At last week's FCC meeting Blair Levin, who will head up the formation of the strategy, laid out the FCC's framework.

Levin outlined a data-driven process that answers four questions:

1. What is the current state of broadband deployment, affordability and other factors?
2. What is the near-term solution if there were no dramatic change in government policy?
3. What are the areas in which there are demonstrable harms to public interest?
4. What are the ways of lessening the public interest harms

The FCC has committed to including key players and public citizens as part of the process in creating the National Broadband Plan. They will convene a series of staff workshops starting in August and going through the fall that will address specific areas of the plan. Throughout this time period, the FCC will accept public comment on several occasions.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps emphasized the importance of creating a national dialogue about broadband as a key to the success of the National Broadband Plan:

"The goal is maximum civic engagement--and I like that term "civic engagement." We need to implement, over time, civic engagement across the whole wide gamut of issues where the Commission has jurisdiction--and broadband is the right place for us to begin. New technologies, techniques and non-traditional outreach can put the focus of this Commission on what it is supposed to be--a consumer-oriented and consumer-responsive agency. We need people talking to us and us talking to people, but we also need to find ways to engage a great national discussion--people talking to people--so that, as a nation, we can all buy into an aggressive broadband plan based on the shared understanding of how critical broadband is to our individual and national futures. This kind of citizen buy-in is vital, both to the development of a good plan and, certainly, to its implementation."

Chairman Julius Genachowski - Prepared Remarks on National Broadband Plan Process (FCC)

Why we must act now on universal Internet access and the digital divide (Speed Matters)

FCC National Plan Aims for Data-Driven Approach to Broadband (Broadband Census)

Bench Remarks of Commissioner Michael J. Copps on Presentation of National Broadband Plan Process (FCC)