FCC Circulates National Broadband Plan Notice of Inquiry for April Meeting

Posted by Claude Aiken on Mar 23, 2009 in Breaking News, Tech Law | 0 comments

In the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, there was a little tidbit that requires the FCC to submit a report to Congress in February 2010 containing a “national broadband plan.”  This is a pretty huge deal.  The key language in the statute requires the plan to

seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.

So, off to the races.
The wording of the statute raises a bunch of interesting and very broad questions.  For example, how do we define “broadband”?  What does it mean to “have access”?

The Commission is currently circulating a draft Notice of Inquiry (basically a document seeking ideas and information from the public to help develop a position on a topic) scheduled to be voted at the April meeting.  This is a great opportunity for folks in the general public to get their ideas out there, and I’ll blog more about it in the future if/when its finally released (though ethical obligations keep me from going into substance).