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04.10

By Barton Reppert

The leadership of IEEE-USA has applauded the National Broadband Plan (NBP) recently introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), aimed at providing access to very high-speed broadband Internet service for all American homes and businesses.

“Creating a modern communications infrastructure and set of services for the Nation is vitally important,” IEEE-USA President Evelyn H. Hirt said in a letter sent on 16 March to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The FCC’s comprehensive due diligence in defining the critical needs of the U.S. broadband infrastructure is a monumental task and we applaud your efforts. Furthermore, we offer our support for the NBP agenda.”

Ms. Hirt added: “Ensuring affordable broadband Internet access for all Americans is vital. Providing state-of-the-art communications capabilities for rural citizens, small businesses and educational institutions and promoting digital literacy are equally critical goals.”

In a story appearing on 16 March, The New York Times reported: “Telecommunications companies praised the intent [of the NBP] but worried that new regulations might impede rather than encourage their progress in expanding Internet access. Industry analysts said the plan was both too ambitious and not detailed enough, and consumer advocates doubted it alone would lead to more affordable broadband service at adequate speeds.”

The Times quoted Craig Moffett, a telecom industry analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, as saying the FCC plan “sets up a hundred different battles over funding and spectrum and even set-top box design, and each on its own would represent an ambitious agenda.”

The FCC document observed: “Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21^st century. Like electricity a century ago, broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. It is enabling entire new industries and unlocking vast new possibilities for existing ones. It is changing how we educate children, deliver health care, manage energy, ensure public safety, engage government, and access, organize and disseminate knowledge.”

The Internet plan noted that the number of Americans who have broadband at home has grown from eight million in 2000 to nearly 200 million last year, utilizing increasingly capable fixed and mobile networks. “But broadband in America is not all it needs to be. Approximately 100 million Americans do not have broadband at home,” it said.

Among long-term goals for the next decade, the FCC included:

• “At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second.”

• “The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.”

• “Every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose.”

In comments given to Today’s Engineer, Eric Burger, chair of IEEE-USA’s Committee on Communications Policy (CCP), was guardedly optimistic, saying that “the aim of the committee is to provide technology advice to the FCC and Congress. The IEEE has a very diverse membership. . . . Some of the incumbents may feel threatened by whatever legislation and regulations may eventually come out of the NBP…Our goal is to inform and educate. You can’t argue with technology. Knowing what technologies can do, we hope to inform and direct some public policy choices made by the FCC and Congress.”

Asked about the likely impact of the NBP on employment for EEs, Burger said: “Undoubtedly, this will be a stimulative package that will create many jobs for IEEE members. At the same time, it will be disruptive. . . . There will be displacement. . . which means that some people will find themselves out of work.”

John Richardson, a member of CCP, said the committee “has focused on broadband policy issues continuously since 2000 through workshops, white papers and position statements. Those studies provided the foundation for its input to the NBP.”

In January 2009, IEEE-USA approved a CCP-developed position statement urging the government and the communications industry to work together to provide nationwide and ubiquitous access to affordable high-speed broadband data services and to facilitate use of new and demanding Internet applications. The statement called universal access to high-speed broadband data services "as imperative to our nation’s economic prosperity in the 21st century as universal access to electric power and telephone services was in the 20th century."

Richardson noted in an e-mail interview that “the NBP and subsequent national attention to broadband will stimulate industry to move toward the goals in Ms. Hirt’s letter. For example, Google’s ‘Fiber for Communities’ experiment hopes to make Internet access better and faster for everyone. Google plans to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Its networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.”

Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., who authored a requirement in last year's economic stimulus legislation directing that the FCC develop a National Broadband Plan, commented that "the FCC has produced a comprehensive, serious, compelling, inspirational and practical plan."

"If fully implemented, it will spark new investment, innovation and competition — the lifeblood of America's broadband policy. If fully implemented, it will create jobs and bring better broadband speeds, choices and business-related apps to the small business market. If fully implemented, it will connect America and all its people to the communications medium of the future — broadband," Markey said in a statement following release of the NBP.

Darrell M. West, vice president and director of governance studies at The Brookings Institution, a major Washington think tank, wrote in a report on broadband Internet issued in February that despite differences in size, population density, industry structure, regulatory environment, demographic makeup and cultural patterns, "America can learn valuable lessons from other countries" in terms of efforts to expand broadband availability and speed.

"In terms of speed, South Korea has the most ambitious national goal in terms of future broadband traffic," West said. "It is seeking to raise broadband speed to 1 gigabyte per second. Australia and Finland are aiming for 100 Mbps, while Germany has a stated target of 50 Mbps by 2014. These countries are pushing for high speeds because they see them as necessary for new health, education, energy and civic engagement applications."

He observed that the FCC "estimates that it will require $350 billion to provide universal broadband coverage in the United States at 100 Mbps, yet the public investment authorized as part of the economic stimulus package is only $7.2 billion."

In her letter to the FCC chairman, Ms. Hirt said several points of focus and innovation are worth noting, including:

• “Integrating mission-critical broadband into the smart grid and expanding access to energy information will reduce our energy consumption and improve our environmental impact.”

• “Creating incentives for broader health IT adoption and innovation will help manage our rising health care costs, foster new business opportunities and improve health care for all Americans.”

• “Transforming government services, increasing transparency and expanding civic engagement should reduce government costs and help all Americans.”

• “Opening up significant spectrum will be a key enabler for the exponentially expanding mobile market and the resulting economic opportunities.”

A report issued on 24 September 2009 by the U.S. Broadband Coalition, of which IEEE-USA and about 160 other organizations are members, observed that "all members of the Coalition support the general principle that, within a reasonable period of time, all American consumers, businesses and other organizations should have affordable access to sufficiently robust broadband . . . . "

“Similarly, there appears to be common ground on the following broad narrative goals: our national goals should be grounded in what users can do with broadband connectivity; numerical targets, standing alone, are of little value; the NBP should include policies that aggressively encourage widespread adoption and use of broadband technologies; while there are very significant differences between wireline and wireless technologies, wireless broadband technologies should be an important component of the NBP, as consumers highly value mobility; and the NBP should seek to preserve and protect security and privacy to the maximum extent possible, particularly as financial, health, corporate, government and other sensitive information are increasingly transmitted over broadband networks,” the report said.

Barton Reppert is an independent science and technology writer based in Takoma Park, Md., mainly focusing on Washington coverage of S&T policy issues. Previously he worked for 18 years as a reporter and editor with The Associated Press in Washington, New York and Moscow.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.