Get ready for the new National Broadband Plan, which is in the final stages of implementation. The highly anticipated broadband plan that aims at increasing Internet speed to 25 times that of the current average is being anxiously awaited. Proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, the National Broadband Plan will soon be a reality, reports Reuters.
The plan hopes to stimulate the dynamic communications industry to introduce faster Internet services to Americans, who have made Internet their second refuge, to which they turn to communicate, pay rentals, devise travel plans, seek work, outsource, and even entertain themselves. However, the new broadband plan seems to have irked a few services providers, such as AT&T Inc and Qwest Communications International Inc – to whom the proposed speed of 100 Mbps in place of the current 4 Mbps seems to be a ‘dream.’ According to them, the FCC should reconsider the proposed plan, which they call "extreme forms of regulation."
But there are a few others who have commended the FCC move and offered help to meet the FCC guidelines. For example, Cisco Systems Inc has proposed a router to handle online traffic at about 12 times the speed of its rival products. Google Inc has also joined in and offered to build an Internet network at a super fast speed to turn the FCC ‘dream’ a reality.
However, the plan might give rise to hostility with television broadcasters – the reason being the proposed transfer of unused spectrum from the broadcasters to wireless carriers. Therefore, the FCC, with a motive to dispel the tension, has offered them a share in the proceeds from the proposed auction of the airwaves redistribution.
According to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, "We've developed a plan that is a real win-win for everyone involved and we have every expectation that it will work. We've certainly heard from a number of broadcasters who told us they think this is a promising direction and are getting ready to roll up their sleeves with us.”
Contrarily, Paul Gallant, an analyst with Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group, states: “More spectrum from the FCC can only be good for wireless carriers. It’s hard to tell which mobile phone companies will benefit most, since it’s hard to predict the outcome of auctions that will be used to allocate newly available airwaves.”
Unmoved by the tension, the FCC has proposed a speed of around 1 gigabit per second for government buildings, libraries, schools, and health care units by 2020.
The proposed plan will come up on the discussion table on Tuesday, which will decide how soon the ‘dream’ plan - which according to the FCC chairman is “both aspiration and achievable" – can come into action. Stakes are very much in favor as the Obama administration sees it as a way to create employment opportunities, besides making utilization of energy more efficient.
