More, Better, Faster

After digesting 26 workshops, testimony from 230 witnesses and nearly 41,000 pages of written comments, the Federal Communications Commission clearly sees a need for speed. That was one remedy that emerged at a public meeting last week as the agency tries to craft a strategy for "delivery of universal, affordable, widely adopted broadband to serve vital national purposes" as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The national broadband plan is due to Congress by Feb. 17, 2010. At the FCC meeting, chairman Julius Genachowski offered a state-of-the-industry update, rather than strong recommendations. Still, the need for faster Internet lines complicates another key agency mission: service to the about 3 million to 6 million people are who are unserved by basic broadband, defined as a speed of 768 Kilobits per second or less. As the FCC increases the minimum broadband speed in its definition, the number of "unserved" subscribers also goes up. And that, of course, means more money must be spent. By the government's own estimates, the total investment required could go as high as "$350 billion for 100 [Megabits per second] or faster."