An insider's top 10 questions on the FCC's national broadband plan

After you've had a entire weekend to read the National Broadband Plan -- what's next? Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will appear before two Congressional hearings this week to defend and explain the agency's plan. Other commissioners will also appear at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday morning. Here's a Top 10 list of questions Members of Congress should ask Chairman Genachowski:

1) What specific proposals -- past Lifeline/LinkUp pilot programs -- are in the plan for making broadband more affordable?

2) The plan recommends a goal of 4 mbps of actual download speed (and 1 mbp of actual upload speed) as a goal for broadband networks for all Americans by 2020. It also sets a goal of 100 mbps download speed and 50 mbps of upload speed for 100 million households by 2020. Is it really acceptable for the nation to have an infrastructure that is 25 times better for some Americans than for others?

3) What is your benchmark for success in making the broadband industry more competitive?

4) What about line sharing, special access reform and unbundling?

5) When will the FCC issue a timeline for the many rulemaking proceedings the plan will spawn?

6) If a federal appeals court rules that the FCC jurisdiction over broadband Internet is limited, will the agency move to launching its inquiry into Title II common carrier services?

7) What will Congress' role in implementing the plan be?

8) Why did the FCC propose a system that will require police, fire, and emergency service agencies to rely on commercial carriers for their mission-critical broadband communications needs?

9) What is your view on the cable and satellite industry initiative called TV Everywhere? Would reforms to the set-top box address open-access concerns that arise from that business strategy?

10) What's next for Blair Levin?