FCC's broadband plan critiqued as overly broad, unfeasible

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: March 4, 2010 4:53:27 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC's broadband plan critiqued as overly broad, unfeasible

FCC's broadband plan critiqued as overly broad, unfeasible

The National Broadband Plan already appears to be impossibly broad and technologically difficult to roll out, based on 
what's known about the proposal so far, several analysts said Tuesday.

"Congress is not going to spend any time with this plan, because it won't get any of the elected officials re-elected, 
so they'll just get a five-minute overview from their staffs and pass over it," said analyst and consultant Andrew 
Seybold, who is writing his own national plan to address the expansion of broadband services to urban and rural areas. 
Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, said that whatever Congress gets from the FCC needs to be "broken into 
stages rather than being put into a big omnibus bill, because, frankly, Congress can't get a big omnibus bill right. 
You are not just talking about technology here; you are talking about politics."

Seybold said the upcoming National Broadband Plan needs to focus on only a few top priorities instead of being so 
broad. One priority, he said, should be faster Internet connections to rural areas. "Giving 100 Mbit/sec connections to 
Google customers is irrelevant," he said, referring to Google's plans to test fiber optic connections with ultra-fast 
speeds. "Why are we talking about 100 Mbit/sec service to 100 million people when some people would kill for 700 
Kbit/sec?"

Seybold wants five tiers of service for Internet speeds available to all Americans, with those currently without 
Internet connections to get at least the lowest tier of service, ranging from 500 Kbit/sec to 1 Mbit/sec. The top tier 
would be for 50 Mbit/sec and greater connections. Because no carrier is going to bear the cost of rural connections 
everywhere, Seybold suggested that the FCC urge Congress to take proceeds from any auction of unused TV spectrum and 
apply it toward rural broadband construction. Currently, the FCC's spectrum money must go toward retiring the national 
debt. Seybold noted that $50 billion raised from a TV spectrum auction would only pay off the amount of national debt 
incurred in two weeks. "Let's forget paying off the national debt with the auctions," he said.

Seybold said any focus on universal broadband access needs to be on rural areas. Some urban areas, while underserved, 
do not qualify for federal subsidies since there are at least 10 private ISPs nationwide who are attacking the urban 
digital divide with affordable plans. Seybold and other analysts said that many of the broadband issues the FCC has 
addressed might not require congressional action, although one area in need of legislation stands out. The National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration oversees much of the nation's electromagnetic spectrum -- even more 
than the FCC does, Seybold noted.

<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9164718/FCC_s_broadband_plan_critiqued_as_overly_broad_unfeasible?source=rss_news>

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