FCC National Broadband Plan: some of your favorite ISPs respond

By Laura June

posted March 16th 2010 4:45PM

Yesterday, the FCC submitted its National Broadband Plan to Congress, essentially requesting that six goals be met over the next decade, including sizzlers like access for "every American" to "robust broadband services,"which apparently equals a minimum of 100 million US homes with "affordable" access to at least 100MBps down / 50Mbps up speeds. Pretty heady stuff, we know. We thought we'd contact a few of your friendly ISPs for comment, and we've got Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon going on record here -- all in all, they're rather predictable 'rah rahs' for the plan, especially considering that whole "affordable" bit. We also threw in part of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's response. The statements are after the break, and hit the source links for the fuller, long-winded versions.

Glenn Britt, Chairman, President and CEO of Time Warner Cable:

"We applaud Chairman Genachowski and the FCC for the extraordinary effort and work that went into the development of the National Broadband Plan. We share the FCC's goal of universal broadband deployment and adoption and we look forward to participating in a robust dialogue around all aspects of the plan, which will help shape the future of broadband in this country. We know as well as anyone the positive impact that broadband access can have on individuals and communities and we want to work with the FCC and others to ensure that this valuable resource is used to its most effective potential."

Tom Tauke, executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communications, Verizon (partial):

"Verizon strongly supports the emphasis in the National Broadband Plan on the deployment of broadband facilities and adoption by all Americans. To that end, we are encouraged by the call to reform the policies that subsidize some companies' telecommunications services so the policies are focused on the technologies of the 21st century. The plan also properly focuses on identifying the barriers to swift deployment and adoption and proposing recommendations to remove or overcome those barriers. The plan correctly notes that government is a major purchaser of services and can be a catalyst for using broadband to reform the health care delivery system, improve energy conservation, preserve the environment, and promote the use of broadband technology to advance education. Chairman Genachowski; Blair Levin, the executive director of the National Broadband Taskforce; and the commission staff should be commended for comprehensively addressing the array of broadband issues and developing a coherent plan."

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google (partial):

"Tomorrow the FCC will release a national broadband strategy. The plan will set goals for expanding broadband to unserved and under-served areas, promote greater speeds, and drive consumer demand. It will harness this communications technology to urgent national priorities, such as jobs, education, health, energy, and security. In short, the plan will lay the groundwork for investing in America's future... I support a national broadband strategy because ubiquitous broadband connectivity can catapult America into the next level of economic competitiveness, worker productivity, and educational opportunity. But as in the past, we will make this breakthrough by choice, not chance."

Brian L. Roberts, CEO and Chairman of Comcast:

"We commend the FCC for the immense effort involved in researching and writing the National Broadband Plan. The Plan appears to reflect the emerging consensus on a number of paramount broadband goals, most notably the need to achieve universal adoption and digital literacy; the need to fix and redirect outdated subsidy schemes to more efficiently deliver broadband to unserved areas and to close the affordability gap for low-income families; and the need to break down policy barriers that keep broadband from serving critical national purposes such as health care, education, and employment. With the demand for bandwidth doubling every two years, most recognize the critical need for continued private investment in faster competitive broadband networks, and the importance of maintaining a regulatory environment to promote that investment. We hope that implementation of the many recommendations contained in the Plan will help to achieve that critical balance and we look forward to playing our part in helping to make America the most connected nation on earth."