FCC Updates California on Broadband Reform

Speaking at a roundtable discussion with the California Broadband Council, Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Zachary Katz said the FCC will focus on the build-out of high-speed networks in underserved areas and work to expand mobile broadband access throughout the US.

He said the FCC’s Connect America Fund (CAF) — a $4.5 billion annual program that launched in November 2011 to revamp the commission’s outdated universal service and intercarrier compensations systems — will devote $300 million to areas where networks aren’t being developed. The FCC is currently developing a finance model to begin the effort, but Katz said that the FCC envisions, in the long term, a competitive bidding system for a five-year commitment to building out an area. “A big part of this is the idea of targeting support in areas where you truly need it, where there isn’t another subsidized competitor: whether a cable company or another provider that can offer services,” he said.