Levin: Broadband Record Still Lacking

According to Blair Levin, the Federal Communications Commission still does not have the information it needs to meet its Feb. 17, 2010 congressional deadline for a National Broadband Plan. Levin had criticized the public and industry input on the national broadband plan in an earlier speech as too aspirational at the expense of practical solutions, and of being "analytically weak" and lacking in serious purpose." But he said Wednesday he needed to clarify that. Levin said he did not want to stifle creativity, but that the commission needs more data to support all the policy arguments it has been hearing. He said the Commission's North Star should be about "unleashing a process rather than reaching an arbitrary goal." The FCC's North Star, he said, should be "freeing up underutilized assets." Levin concluded, "[I]f we cast aside narrow self-interests, dig deep into the data, and approach the problems in a new way, we can propose a plan that will capture those externalities, build that foundation and make our country better and stronger."