IP: FCC National Broadband Policy

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
>
> FCC National Broadband Policy
>
> We dug deep into the maundering of recent public pronouncements to
> uncover the outline of a national broadband policy. Accompanying
> these pass-the-buck proselytizations is a sesquipedalian plan to do
> nothing at all.
> by Patricia Fusco
> ISP-Planet Managing Editor
> [November 7, 2001]
> <http://isp-planet.com/politics/2001/national_broadband_policy.html>
>
> Nancy Victory, head of the National Telecommunications and
> Information Administration (NTIA), discussed U.S. broadband policy at
> an event hosted by the NARUC in Crystal City, Virginia.
>
> As an arm of the Commerce Department, Victory stated that she would
> "love to be able to unveil the Administration's broadband policy
> today, but it remains a work in progress." Victory did however
> purport that "competition should be promoted using a technology
> neutral paradigm," allowing exceptions, of course, for rural and
> inner-city areas.
>
> Without a national broadband policy, Internet service providers of
> all shapes and sizes are left to twist in the wind-each one wondering
> which direction makes the most sense for the future of its service
> portfolio or business model. If we interpret Victory's statements
> literally, the DoC contends that coaxial cable and copper lines are
> the same as satellite feeds and wireless links when it comes to
> broadband services in the U.S.-except, of course, for the dirt-poor
> parts of the country.
>
> Wouldn't it be wonderful if Federal Communications Commission
> Chairman Michael Powell followed up Victory's speech with an outline
> of our national broadband policy?
>
> He did Š eventually. But Powell's discourse presented more questions
> than answers in the near-term of things. The first of which is-what
> is broadband?
>
> Broadband defined
> Powell said a clear, uniformly accepted definition of the term evades the FCC.
>
> "Whatever broadband is, it's fast-the Commission has defined it as
> 200Kbs. I submit, however, that broadband is not a speed," Powell
> said. "It is a medium that offers a wide potential set of
> applications and uses. "I think broadband should be viewed
> holistically as a technical capability that can be matched to
> consumers' broad communication, entertainment, information, and
> commercial desires."
>
> Huh?
>
> Do you suppose Powell is referring to content or bandwidth or both?
> Let's let him answer in his own words.
>
> "[Broadband] is, to my mind, (1) a digital architecture, (2) capable
> of carrying IP or other multi-layered protocols, (3) that has an
> 'always on' functionality, and (4) that is capable of scaling to
> greater capacity and functionality as uses evolve and bandwidth
> hungry applications emerge."
>
> Okay. We can translate this-broadband is a non-analog communication
> system that is IP-friendly, always connected, and eternally scalable.
>
> Eureka!
>
> For Powell's FCC, broadband is a premise, not a practice-a theory,
> not a technology.
>
> Egads, what a vexing muddle. How do you regulate conjecture?
>
> Powell has some definitive answers for this question-with a
> question-how should we measure broadband deployment progress and
> success?
>
> <snip>


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