The FCC, under Chairman Julius Genachowski, has spent a year working on a plan that would reallocate up to 500 megahertz of the radio frequency spectrum through voluntary auction. That would add more broadband Internet via airwaves instead of cables and give users a 100-Mbps connection with one Gbps for schools, hospitals, government agencies, and public-safety agencies. The new wide area networks (WANs) would target users who can't afford current broadband rates or who live in dead zones.

According to data from ABI Research, 30 percent of U.S. households now have Wi-Fi local area networks (LANs) in their homes. "Once the WAN connection is in place through the FCC plan, there will likely be an increase in LAN distribution -- routers and access points -- to connect Wi-Fi-enabled devices to the network," said ABI researcher Jeff Orr.

Catching Up

"The national broadband plan is a 21st-century road map to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, protect our citizens, and engage in our democracy," Genachowski said. "It's an action plan, and action is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues."

According to published reports, part of the FCC plan is to subsidize Internet providers to extend WANs into rural areas and develop a single device that will integrate Internet and cable-TV programming.

Getting Broader

The FCC says broadband Internet subscription in the United States has soared from eight million in 2002 to more than 200 million homes, and it hopes to reach another 100 million to bring the country closer in line with per-capita high-speed Internet rates in other developed nations. The Los Angeles Times reported that the U.S. has dropped from fourth place in per-capita access in 2001 to 15th last year in the ranking of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The FCC push is bound to usher in some debate on Capitol Hill as well as potentially some legal action from TV networks, media and telecommunications companies who fear that the initiative will pave the way for more Internet-delivered entertainment and communication that takes bread off their tables.

While activists for greater online access praise the FCC's interest in the availability of more spectrum, some see more regulation as potentially onerous and fear the program will be bogged down in Congress in the same fashion as President Barack Obama's health-care initiatives.

A Contentious Issue

"Getting part of the spectrum back from TV broadcasters is going to be very contentious and presumably lead to court action for many years," said Lauren Weinstein, cofounder of People for Internet Responsibility and an activist with several similar grassroots groups. "Anything Congress does in this area that is not trivial is going to be challenged."

"Everyone agrees we need better access to broadband, just as everyone agrees we need better health care," Weinstein said. "But when you get down to the nitty-gritty ... you will find results hinging on specific issues of comparatively narrow focus."

Once taxpayer funds are involved, Weinstein added, there will likely be significant pressure on legislators to control content , just as pro-life activists fought to prevent public funding of abortions.

"People will say how can you spend taxpayer dollars on porn or on [unauthorized] downloading of movies?" he predicted.

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