FCC Proposes National Broadband Plan
While this may sound good, many questions still remain. At this point, more government spending and increased regulations are not the answer---especially in an already hyper-competitive telecommunications marketplace. Furthermore, the government should not compete with private industry for this service. As I have stated in my telecommunications policy platform, H. Res. 176, the government just need to "get out of the way and stay out of the way."
Broadband Plan Faces Hurdles
Federal regulators detailed a $20 billion, 10-year plan to ensure all U.S. households access to high-speed Internet service, but the proposal faces resistance from industry groups and possible questions from lawmakers over how to pay for it.
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to formally release its strategy Tuesday to bring high-speed Internet access to the seven million U.S. homes that lack it, while making existing broadband connections that serve some 100 million households at least 10 times as fast. The plan is designed to encourage more Americans to go online through new proposals like a free or low-cost national wireless broadband network.
But for the telecommunications industry and its critics, the more important aspects of the plan will have to do with how the FCC could soon propose to use its regulatory powers to generate more competition for the existing broadband networks run by big phone and cable companies.
Read more at online.wsj.com
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