NCTA Offers Comments On Broadband Plan

Deployment, adoption key issues for the cable group

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/21/2009 5:20:58 PM

The FCC won't be able to get broadband to every American, or meet any other of Congress' goals, if its grand broadband plan discourages broadband investment. It also should not get bogged down in the openness debate.

That was the message from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in the second round of comments on that plan, which were due to the FCC by Tuesday night.  The bottom lines for the cable group were deployment and adoption, and beyond that, the FCC should get out of the way and let the industry continue writing its broadband success story.

NCTA pointed out that the folks doing the broadband investing had already ponied up hundreds of billions of dollars for broadband, saying that was one of "many successes" that the FCC "must acknowledge." Others included increasing speeds and a "thriving market" for applications.

As to proposals by some commenters that the FCC should adopt "significant new regulation" of the Internet, NCTA said the commission must recognize that is the wrong approach if the commission wants to fill deployment gaps or promote adoption of broadband.

NCTA gave a shout-out to the commission for taking an "unconventional" approach to the broadband plan, which includes a series of public workshops on various aspects of the plan. "NCTA applauds the Commission for taking a creative approach to such an important set of issues." said the group in its filing.

NCTA asked the FCC to take the following four steps:

1. An open and transparent process. That includes putting out a draft of the report for comment before issuing the final report in February. NCTA also wants it to make sure the data analysis being contracted out to Harvard's Berkman Center is also subject to public review and comment before it is used to help prepare the plan.

2. The FCC should keep its eye on the ball, which is 100% broadband availability.

3. The commission should also establish programs to promote broadband adoption, particularly in underserved populations.

4. Keep the network "openness" debate out of the proceeding. "[M]any of the regulatory proposals related to “openness” on the Internet do not directly bear on the deployment and adoption of broadband (except to the extent that they will deter investment)," said NCTA, "and need not be addressed in order to develop a National Broadband Plan by February 2010."

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• With the growth of the Internet over the last couple of decades, it is not surprising that US Regulators are keen to submit a plan to the Congress, building an infrastructure “to give every American super-fast broadband by 2020”. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hope to provide speeds of 100 mbps compared to the average 4mbps currently.
  
  The FCC released an executive summary before its presentation to the Congress stating “broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is changing how we educate children, deliver health care, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organise, and disseminate knowledge”
  
  The executive summary also revealed that access to high speed internet has significantly increased from 8 Million American users 20 years ago to 200 million today. The estimate to implement this plan has been put to £233 Billion, with the split between the public and private investments to fund this plan still unknown.
  
  This is very similar to the initiative taken up by the UK Government to provide next generation broadband to 90% of the country. In this case, the estimates have been put to £1 Billion, allowing the upgrade of the UK’s Digital network, particularly benefiting the rural areas from . A charge of 50p per month will be applied to all fixed line users to fund this “high speed internet for all” plan, a plan that has been condemned as “unfair” by MPs.

  
  jack mark - 3/30/2010 1:04:52 AM EDT
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