The Federal Communications Commission is getting with the times. It’s finally figured out that landline telephones are yesterday’s technology. As a result, it has approved $4.5 billion to bring broadband Internet to needy and rural Americans. The plan is called Connect America.
Surprisingly, politics were put aside and the Commission voted unanimously in favor of the proposal. All four members vigorously endorsed diverting billions of dollars that had heretofore been used to landline telephones in the nation’s hinterlands.
It is estimated that one out of twenty Americans still has no internet access. This FCC vote will bring cell phones and broadband connections to those households. This won’t be cheap internet, but free high-speed broadband.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski led the charge for the broadband fund. He insists that it will help extend broadband internet – what he calls the “infrastructure” of the future – to every American.
If the FCC’s projections hold true, more 18 million Americans without high speed broadband internet access today will be connected by landline broadband or state-of-the-art mobile services thanks to this program.
Getting everyone to agree, even on a program as worthy as this one, is impossible.
On one hand, the FCC vote was lauded by some lawmakers, consumer groups and some Internet service providers. They contend that federal government programs usually trail consumer trends by a considerable margin. They argue that more than 30% of Americans have eliminated their landlines and replaced them with cellphones.
On the other hand, some consumer groups and phone companies disagree. Why? They dislike the fact that the FCC plan could lead to higher monthly telephone bills for consumers.
The Washington Post quotes Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge as saying, “We share the concerns of other consumer organizations that the commission’s actions will lead to higher prices at a time when the average American is watching every penny.”
Commissioner Genachowski discounts those concerns and insists that bills will not increase.
Cable and cell phone companies have their own problems with the plan. They don’t like language in the plan that seems to favor traditional phone companies.
Michael Powell, a former FCC chairman who heads the cable industry lobby group National Cable & Telecommunications Association expressed his concerns to the Washington Post:
“While we are disappointed in the commission’s apparent decision to ignore its longstanding principle of competitive neutrality and provide incumbent telephone companies an unwarranted advantage for broadband support, we remain hopeful that the order otherwise reflects the pro-consumer principles of fiscal discipline and technological neutrality that will bring accountability and greater efficiency to the existing subsidy system.”
The plan comes as some Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been questioning the success of federal loan guarantees and grants in “new economy” projects such as clean energy and broadband Internet.
Our opinion? Any program that helps bring free or inexpensive wireless and broadband service to Americans gets our support.
Way to go, FCC.
Source: Washington Post
Mustafa says
The solution is going to have to be Internet/cloud based e-learning and inrstuctional video materials that can be self-directed and self-paced. The moderator will be a motivator and faciliator of learning, not a teacher in the conventional sense. We’re working on some proposals for a pilot along those lines right now.In addition, you might want to review some of the blog postings on the community Senior Internet Training Network that I described in two blog entires in August and September. In rural areas the public housing or Section 8 (or Farmer’s Home) senior building can function as a hub for a network of senior training and other service providers, involving the local library, senior center, community college, local high school and other senior housing facilities and churches. Happy to review and comment on your specific situation. I’m at , or .