FCC prepares for broadband shake-up

The Federal Communications Commission is due to unveil plans on Tuesday aimed at improving the country's mediocre performance in the global broadband race.

But they are already learning the hard way that change will not be easy. The Obama administration came to power with ambitious plans to boost the nation's flagging communications infrastructure. Having been at the forefront of broadband deployment a decade ago, the US has slipped back to a middling position among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, according to a Harvard University study commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission last year. One idea has already been floated by the FCC to help remedy this: enticing TV broadcasters to give up part of their spectrum in return for some of the estimated $50bn (€36bn, £33bn) in proceeds from re-auctioning it for use in wireless broadband networks. But that has gone down badly with many broadcasters, who claim they are being railroaded into giving up airwaves they could still use.