FCC Strategic Plan for FY 2012-2016

As specified in section one of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Communications Act) the mission of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is to “make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, Nation-wide and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.” In addition, section one provides that the Commission was created “for the purpose of the national defense” and “for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications.”

The FCC’s vision is to promote innovation, investment, competition, and consumer empowerment in and on top of the communications platforms of today and the future – maximizing the power of communications technology to grow our economy, create jobs, enhance U.S. competitiveness, and unleash broad opportunity and a higher quality of life for all Americans.

  • Strategic Goal 1: Connect America: Maximize Americans’ access to – and the adoption of—affordable fixed and mobile broadband where they live, work, and travel.
  • Strategic Goal 2: Maximize Benefits of Spectrum: Maximize the overall benefits of spectrum for the United States.
  • Strategic Goal 3: Protect and Empower Consumers: Empower consumers by ensuring that they have the tools and information they need to make informed choices; protect consumers from harm in the communications market.
  • Strategic Goal 4: Promote Innovation, Investment, and America’s Global: Competitiveness Promote innovation in a manner that improves the nation’s ability to compete in the global economy, creating a virtuous circle that results in more investment and in turn enables additional innovation.
  • Strategic Goal 5: Promote Competition: Ensure a competitive market for communications and media services to foster innovation, investment, and job creation and to ensure consumers have meaningful choice in affordable services.
  • Strategic Goal 6: Public Safety and Homeland Security: Promote the availability of reliable, interoperable, redundant, rapidly restorable critical communications infrastructures that are supportive of all required services.
  • Strategic Goal 7: Advance Key National Purposes: Through international and national interagency efforts, advance the use of broadband for key national purposes.
  • Strategic Goal 8: Operational Excellence: Make the FCC a model for excellence in government by effectively managing the Commission’s human, information, and financial resources; by making decisions based on sound data and analyses; and by maintaining a commitment to transparent and responsive processes that encourage public involvement and best serve the public interest.

FCC Strategic Plan for FY 2012-2016