FCC submits National Broadband Plan to Congress: at least 100M US homes with access to 100Mbps download speeds
By Ross Miller 
posted March 15th 2010 4:08PM
posted March 15th 2010 4:08PM
The appeal to our taxpaying wallets comes in the form of the FCC expecting the "vast majority of recommendations [to] not require new government funding", and that the 500MHz of spectrum going on auction is "likely to offset the potential costs." The plan, as the paper itself says, is in beta and be perennially in flux. Set aside 15 minutes of your day and hit up the PDF for all the details, or 25 if you're having to download over dial-up.
Update: Here's a friendly reminder to keep the discussion friendly and on topic -- that is, about the broadband proposal itself. All other comments will get deleted and the respective users run the risk of being banned.
Great. Now all the poor people will have Internet.
@ashleythehottiest Blasphemy.
@ashleythehottiest
Whats wrong with that?
@Caprice Dates I take it the first poster is an apple fanboy
@ashleythehottiest im really getting hyped for this i mean this shizz is hyphy for sure! tracking out own enrgy consumtion online? thats just awesome! poor people having internet.. hon they can get it at public plaaces for free anyways. they already have it! dont be so shallow
@ashleythehottiest
Access to porn is an inalienable right!! Think of the children!
@ashleythehottiest
... on our dime.
@Alex the internet was invited on our dime.
@Caprice Dates
"Whats wrong with that?"
They didnt pay for it.
But the folks that actually still pay taxes will.
@RoccOn16v i wouldn't recommend saying "think of the children" right after talking about porn, it's just... i don't know. gross.
and poor people on the internet? ew. that's like... finally giving the rabbit his trix. i mean, sure, we all know should do it, but then there goes all the fun we've had for the last 15 years.
@stabbytheicepic You're wrong. Al Gore "invited" (or rather, invented) the internet.
@ashleythehottiest
I want DSL in my box.
@Colrath now more online gaming will partake in the more mountainous regions of the world
also george bush can now get faster downloads of his favorite weird crap
@ashleythehottiest Guess you haven't signed into MySpace lately.
Great. The FCC chose this proposal over the "Update Facebook and Twitter status updates from the power of your brainwaves" initiative. I'm moving to China. Wait. No Google. NM.
You didn't mention the deadline------2020. Wow, we should see this anytime soon.
@Showbiz
You honestly think you can build this kind of network overnight?
@BigJayDogg3 Yes, why?
@BigJayDogg3
You can't build it "overnight", but a decade from now 100 Mbps will probably be what 1.5 Mbps is to today's customers. Verizon offers 50 down / 30 up on FiOS, and Comcast has an Extreme 50 plan in some of its service areas as well. Granted their total customer base (and perhaps even their total POTENTIAL customer base if everyone they could cover signed up) is probably nowhere near 100 million, but it does seem like the timeline is pretty tame here. On the other hand it's probably pretty aggressive by government change rate standards.
@John H Its sweet if your company needs you to host files and will shell out the $100 a month for 25/15 Fixed IP FiOS Business class in your home. lucky me
@John H
Which is what I'm saying. This is the government. They won't (can't) just up and drop a couple million into building out the infrastructure necessary for those kinds of speeds being that widespread. If it were an actual company, then yeah, this would be a lifetime. But when you take into consideration not only the fact that we have an extremely slow moving government, this is extraordinarily fast.
Could you imagine the funds that would be needed to build this network out? Could you honestly see Washington outpouring that and NOT getting all kinds of bad press because they're wasting tax payer dollars on something that isn't necessary, especially when we're in the middle of a recession?
Never mind the fact that more and more school projects are requiring the use of the internet. And using dial-up on today's internet is a lesson in futility. I know that from experience. Maybe the country should just fall further and further behind the rest of the world.
There's no getting around it, the news media would have a field day if they got a hold of the government building out in what we would consider a timely fashion. The only choice really is build slowly, or forgo building at all. And the internet is a critical part of any child's education. To have a child go without it is a SERIOUS handicap. This is an issue that needs to be addressed.
@BigJayDogg3
An "extremely slow moving government?" It seems to me like the government is trying to push this healthcare over hall like a bat out of hell- which many disagree with in the first place.
"Could you imagine the funds that would be needed to build this network out? Could you honestly see Washington outpouring that and NOT getting all kinds of bad press because they're wasting tax payer dollars on something that isn't necessary, especially when we're in the middle of a recession?"
Can you imagine how much money is needed to "reform" our health care that MANY disapprove of and get a foot in the door for socialism- in the middle of a recession?? Trillions.
Less government is good for the people. I don't want the government choosing MY healthcare, ruining the economy, and ruining the life my children will have. I need the government for protection and the continuous support to ensure our freedoms.
What I don't need is the government taking my taxes and allowing others to have broadband while I pay for it. And don't fool yourself to think it will be free- to implement or to upkeep. I believe the internet should be free to all, but BROADBAND is NOT NECESSARY and therefore can be left in the private sector. Whenever the government takes over, they make incredible mistakes, BLEED MONEY, and are incredibly inefficient. On the other hand, private companies are ALWAYS trying to squeeze every penny out of their investment and profit from it.
@think before you react
How long have we been talking about health care reform?
But that's neither here nor there, and to that point, you've proved mine. YOU are the reason this project will take 10 years.
Don't let the government do it. They will build such a large bureaucracy that everything will grind to a halt.
@stabbytheicepic
The military is under "civilian" control, not run by them.
It is not run by the same people that F'ed up the litany of extra-constitutional "programs" that are made the U.S. broke.
They will control out Internets :(
@manifest3r - doubtful. Any infrastructure they build will likely get sold to private companies upon completion. That way the gov. won't have to pay for maintenance etc.
All this "plan" will do is cause tons of regulatory fees to be tacked onto our internet bills, like the nightmare that is our telephone bills.
@balls33
You've spotted their scam. Expect men in dark suits to show up on your door soon.
Also, they want homeowners to be able to track their home energy usage with the internet? Gee, I wonder who ELSE will be able to track our energy usage...now why would they want to do that?
Govt. working for us for a change. 100M people getting access to inexpensive 100Mbps Internet service without requiring govt. funding would be a serious accomplishment. I can't wait.
@portlander stupid stupid stupid. If people can't afford internet then go to your library. Stop using my tax dollars for people who won' work!!!!
@Jacob Apple Geek
Who said anything about people not working? There actually are people who make small amounts of money and honestly can't do better. Not everyone can pull down enough money to put food on the table and a roof over their family's heads AND get high speed internet.
@BigJayDogg3 Maybe they should get their tubes tied then. I don't know of anyone that has a job and no kids that can't afford internet.
@Prevacator
"It's not subsidized you fucking idiot."
Ok, whom might I ask, is going to pay the cash to provide people with no means of paying for it, access to 100MPS download speeds?
Oh, and would you like a "free" puppy?
@stabbytheicepic
You say that like some of us love the fact that the Feds have inserted themselves into millions of areas they are constitutionally forbidden to be in.
Get them out of all of it.
@engadgetcomexcludeengadget
Not that I care much.......but that is so incredibly racist/elitest/snotty that I am surprised people haven't voted it down completely.
Go to any retirement home. Throw a rock. You won't be able to miss an elderly person who is "on medicare" that has all of their assets seized to pay for care.
Go to a shelter. Throw a rock. Yeah, lots of people there can afford it....
Go to your mom's house. Tell her I said hi. Then throw a rock at her for what her kids learned growing up.
@LAY
Do you really think it costs $40-$50 a month to connect a home to a network?
There might be a one time fee of under $100 to connect a home (cheaper if you use wireless in the right wavelength), but the monthly fee for the amount of electricity used per person is pretty small.
@Showbiz
I live in Canada, free health plan. Huzzah... but then again, 100MB/s in the states...
@BigJayDogg3 Then why do they need this fast an internet if they can't afford it?
Do you expect they could afford the for pay streaming? Or are we going to start handing out "Streaming Stamps" to go along with food stamps?
Seriously, as someone else said above, we ALREADY pay for the free internet at Libraries. Poor people don't need more internet then that.
@Showbiz The government can't take old people's home. Everything else you said is equally false.
@dataninja
Imagine you're a who's parents go to work all day. You're poor, so you don't have a car. Get to the library. Oh, and be sure you do it by 6, otherwise you'll be showing up to a locked door.
Do you not realize people CAN'T do these things? People CAN'T get across town to go to the library. I know if I were in a position where I didn't have internet, I'd have been royally screwed. I didn't get a car until I was a senior in high school, the library is 10 or so miles away, and we don't have buses. So you would have expected me to go to the library?
Not everyone is like us dude. Some people don't have the ability to access these things. That's what these bills are trying to fix.
@dataninja
So people in a HOMELESS SHELTER can afford internet? I think they'd much prefer food...
And the Government didn't take their stuff. They had to get rid of their stuff so they can pay for their stay in the retirement home. You do know that any retirement home that's worth anything costs respectable amounts of money. By all means, put one of your grandparents/parents in a cheap retirement home. Don't be surprised if when you go visit maw and paw they're all doped up and have bed sores.
I hate big companies who have no idea what they're doing (AKA governments)
@(Unverified)
The government is...a company? Methinks your logic is flawed.
@BigJayDogg3 it technically is, they do everything that private companies do
@(Unverified)
But, the government is still answerable to the people. If we don't like how something's going, we can vote people out of the government. Can't do that with a private (or even to a large extent public) companies.
@BigJayDogg3
It's the other way around: Companies are the government.
@Laughton
Disappointingly, that's far more accurate than I'd like to admit.
Instead of giving people high speed, what about they give everybody in the country at least 3mbs which will more than suffice for most things
@smoof111
completely agree. give everyone access to 3-10Mbps download and .5-1Mbps upload. that's more than enough for everyone to have access to information. i couldn't care less if they can stream netflix, torrent porn, or watch hulu.
of course this isn't a "give it away" program but "build an infrastructure" and then charge for the actual service.
i vote we let Google do it.