FCC seeking 1 gigabit Internet speed for communities

The Federal Communications Commission will seek to bring Internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second by 2020 to community institutions such as schools and government buildings, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Thursday.

Chairman Genachowski said the blueprint will set "dramatic, bold" goals to bring faster Internet speeds to American homes, including 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for 100 million U.S. households by 2020. One gigabit per second is 1,000 Mbps. Industry estimates generally put average current U.S. Internet speeds at below 4 Mbps. "We're going to set goals around making sure that every community by 2020 has a 1 gigabit connection at an anchor institution like a school or a library or a healthcare facility," Genachowski said at an event to promote broadband use for small businesses.