March 2010

Emergency communications plan update will blend old and new

The Homeland Security Department is incorporating advanced technologies into an emergency communications strategy, but first responders will have to rely on legacy handheld devices for the short term, a DHS official said.

An update to the 2008 National Emergency Communications Plan will include a roadmap on deploying next-generation technologies, including broadband, said Chris Essid, director of DHS' Office of Emergency Communications. The plan governs how federal, state and local officials stay in touch during disasters. "We've got to continue evolving the vision to include emerging technologies; however, as technology evolves, it's more critical to focus on the coordination piece of the pie," Essid said during the 9-1-1 Goes to Washington conference. "Technologies exist to solve the problems [of emergency communications]; so why haven't they? There's a lack of standard operating procedures, exercises [and] governance. It's the same old gaps." The broadband piece of the updated strategy will be influenced by the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, due out on Tuesday, according to Essid. Though details of FCC's plan have not been revealed, recommendations for deploying a dedicated broadband network for the public safety community will be included.

FCC broadband plan targets e-health expansion

The Federal Communications Commission formally adopted and forwarded to Congress a plan to significantly upgrade U.S. broadband connections that could greatly boost the adoption rate of health information technology.

The National Broadband Plan was mandated by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, and is the result of an unprecedented level of public workshops, hearings and online interaction. The process to get to the plan generated some 75,000 pages of public comment. The health care chapter of the plan includes substantial changes to the FCC's existing Rural Health Care Program, which already funds some broadband improvements. It has authorized funding of $400 million a year, but only a fraction of that is actually used. It also recommends added funding of $29 million a year to help upgrade Indian Health Services' broadband networks. Crucially, the FCC plan expressly supports changes to reimbursement methods so that health care providers will be assured of getting paid for conducting electronic health services. That's something that doctors and physicians have consistently said is needed to help the adoption of health IT. And the FCC is recommending to Congress that current licensing, privileging and credentialing standards that now hamper physicians from practicing medicine remotely and across state lines be rewritten to better reflect the potential of 21st Century technologies.

More on Transparency and Competition

On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission asked for bids on a contract to measure broadband performance in roughly 10,000 homes to scientifically understand broadband performance across America.

The contract would likely involve installation of a measurement device in the homes of volunteers, using a representative set of connections to help identify how different networks and technologies perform at different times of day, across different parts of the network, under different conditions and using different testing methods. The test will focus on how speeds (maximums, averages and other) and performance characteristics (latency, availability, etc.) change and vary in these circumstances. The end goal is to provide better insight into the metrics that consumers and network designers care about most. And the best part? Once aggregated with sufficient privacy protections, the FCC will make this data available online and in a published report, to allow others to see and use the results as they like.

Our Middle Name Should Come First

The Wireline Competition Bureau has had a key role in crafting the National Broadband Plan and we will be even busier after the Plan comes out tomorrow.

In fact, the middle name of our bureau Competition will be one of the important issues the plan addresses. The Plan recognizes that our broadband competition rules should be comprehensively reviewed to develop a sound framework to ensure effective competition and consumer choice in broadband services provided to both small and large businesses, rural ISPs, and to mobile providers. What the Plan also recognizes is that the timeline for completing this review of our competition framework is critical to the full development of broadband deployment and competition.

The Wireline Competition Bureau has already started some of this work. In particular, last November, the Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking concrete suggestions on the appropriate analytic framework for determining whether our current rules are working for Special Access connections the dedicated circuits used to connect businesses to their broadband providers, and broadband providers to the Internet. Comments and reply comments have now come in, and we're in the process of analyzing the various economic frameworks that have been submitted.

Genachowski Delivers on Why Broadband Plan Needed

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski reminded people why it was so important to craft a National Broadband Plan:

First, because broadband is essential to our global competitiveness - essential to job creation in a digital economy, to ongoing investment in vital 21st century infrastructure, and to our ability to lead the world in innovation.
Second, because broadband is essential for opportunity in America - for all Americans, from all communities and backgrounds, living in rural towns, inner cities, or in between.
And, third, because broadband is essential to solving so many of the challenges facing our nation -- including education, health care, energy and public safety, each of which is specifically mentioned in the Congressional directive.

We need a strategic plan for broadband in America because, notwithstanding the many exciting things happening in the U.S. around wired and wireless broadband, our country is not where it should be in this fast-paced and rapidly changing world.

"If we don't act," Chairman Genachowski said, "our global competitiveness is at risk, as well as our role as the world's leader in innovation.

If we don't act, we put at risk what should be -- what must be -- a central engine of job creation in a 21st century economy.

If we don't act, we put at risk the promise of America as a land of opportunity, stranding on the wrong side of the digital divide a host of important American communities: rural Americans, low-income Americans, minorities, seniors, Tribal communities, and Americans with disabilities, too many of whom will be left fighting the challenges of a 21st century world with 20th century weapons.

If we don't act, we put at risk too many of our children, who won't have the tools they need to be successful members of the new economy and engaged citizens in our democracy.

If we don't act, we put at risk and will surely delay the benefits and cost savings from e-government and smart grid; e-textbooks and distance learning; electronic health records and remote diagnostics.

If we don't act, we put at risk our opportunity to lead the world in mobile; the vitality of our small businesses and entrepreneurs, whether in farming communities, small towns, or technology incubators; and we put at risk the ability of our first responders to obtain the tools they need to keep us-and themselves-safe."

FCC Copps Couples Broadband Plan will Investigation of Media's Future

Federal Communications Commission Michael Copps identified a two-prong challenge before the Commission: ensuring that the Internet of the future can support the information infrastructure which democracy requires and, stemming the decline of traditional media journalism that still supplies the overwhelming bulk of our news and information.

"So I'm pleased," Commissioner Copps said, "that the National Broadband Plan recognizes the need to come to terms with the news and information implications of the digital transition, and I am also pleased that the Commission has launched a separate, but really inherently related, examination focusing on 'The Future of Media and Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age.' A Commission without steady focus on this would ignore one of the core implications of broadband infrastructure. This is an area where public policy needs to be proactive. Technology in and of itself is neutral. It can do great good-or it can cause real harm. What determines the outcome is what we make of it."

Concerning spectrum policy, Commissioner Copps reminded that "the airwaves belong to the American people and the stewards of this precious resource should at all times be serving the public interest. Our allocation of the people's spectrum finds its touchstone right here. In matters involving competition in our communications ecosystem, we will have to be vigilant to ensure that our strategies actually work. Lack of competition could conceivably require us to take actions going beyond what is generally discussed here."

McDowell Brings March Madness to National Broadband Plan

Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell had some reminders and some cautions when commenting on the National Broadband Plan.

He said the plan "does not carry with it the force and effect of law. In other words, the Plan itself contains no rules. Not having a vote has given the Broadband Plan team the flexibility to make their recommendations to Congress and the Commission freely. Rulemakings, opportunities for public comment, subsequent debates and votes on proposed rules spawned by the Plan still lie over the horizon. In short, today marks the beginning of a long process, not the end of one." He noted that the cable industry already had a broadband plan that was working to achieve the government's goal of high-speed service to 100 million households by 2020 and that cable modem service is already available to 92% of households. The first among McDowell's his concerns is that he said the plan "opens the door" to reclassifying broadband as a voice service under Title II of the Communications Act.

He also took issue with proposals for a digital media fund, or suggestions for a national framework for Internet taxation.

Commissioner Clyburn Not Sold on FCC Spectrum Recommendations

Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn was supportive of the National Broadband Plan, but raised concerns about spectrum reclamation which could "further decimate the prospects for women and minority owners" of broadcast outlets.

She is also concerned about the potential impact on news and information and minority and smaller-market broadcasters. "While the plan acknowledges the current public interest mandates and goals of broadcast spectrum, it does not contain a rigorous analysis of the practical implications of its proposed actions on the public interest," Commissioner Clyburn said. "This is a serious concern given that the broadcast spectrum is the lone spectrum through which our nation's public interest goals are effectuated. Likewise, the plan does not study the impact that a spectrum sell-off would have on women and minority-owned broadcast television stations. It is certainly possible, if not likely, that the stations most amenable to accept the buyout would be those few owners. It is no mystery how poorly these groups are represented among the media ownership ranks...In my view, we may be doing the country a disservice if our actions left Americans relying on over-the-air television with only the major networks at the expense of smaller stations serving niche audiences who rely on them for their news and information."

Baker Keeps Focus on Reforming Spectrum Policy

As the head of the National telecommunications and Information Administration Federal Communications Commission, current Federal Communications Commission member Meredith Baker oversaw the creation of a 2008 report, Networked Nation, which looked at the policies and status of competition of broadband. As that report did, Commissioner Baker noted the light-touch targeted regulatory regime in both the Clinton and Bush Administrations that she credits for the transformation from a narrowband dial-up world to a multi-platform broadband world by crafting a regulatory framework that promotes facilities-based competition in lieu of prescriptive government requirements.

She reiterated her call to align Federal spectrum policies correctly with the changing needs of consumers and industry. "The United States needs a spectrum plan that expands upon proven flexible, market-oriented policies to facilitate spectrum access, wireless innovation and competition," Commissioner Baker said. She also noted the broadband plan's recommendations on comprehensive Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation reform. "It is necessary to evolve our support mechanisms into an era in which all Americans have the opportunity to benefit from broadband," she said. "We must transition in a considered way to an explicit support mechanism that will ensure accountability, efficiency, and adequate funding in areas where market forces are not sufficient to drive broadband services to America's consumers."

She urged the FCC to reject "changing our market-based regulatory framework mid-course in a manner that could chill the private investment" and identified the most troubling policies: Network Neutrality, reclassifying broadband service, fiber unbundling and copper retirement proposals.

President Obama on Broadband Plan: Building World's Most Powerful Platform for Economic Growth

America today is on the verge of a broadband-driven Internet era that will unleash innovation, create new jobs and industries, provide consumers with new powerful sources of information, enhance American safety and security, and connect communities in ways that strengthen our democracy. Just as past generations of Americans met the great infrastructure challenges of the day, such as building the Transcontinental railroad and the Interstate highways, so too must we harness the potential of the Internet. Expanding broadband across the nation will build a foundation of sustained economic growth and the widely shared prosperity we all seek.

I commend Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Commissioners, and the FCC staff for their hard work in developing the National Broadband Plan.

My Administration will build upon our efforts over the past year to make America's nationwide broadband infrastructure the world's most powerful platform for economic growth and prosperity, including improving access to mobile broadband, maximizing technology innovation, and supporting a nationwide, interoperable public safety wireless broadband network.

Benton

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