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BroadBand

Source: Federal Communications Commission

The FCC's strategic goal for Broadband is to establish regulatory policies that promote competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities while monitoring progress toward the deployment of broadband services in the United States and abroad.

Description

Broadband technologies, which encompass all evolving high-speed digital technologies that provide consumers integrated access to voice, high-speed data, video-on-demand, and interactive delivery services, are a fundamental component of the communications revolution. Fully-evolved broadband will:

Virtually eliminate geographic distance as an obstacle to acquiring information, and
Dramatically reduce the time it takes to access information.
All will benefit as broadband’s technologies are developed and deployed. Nonetheless:

The infrastructure is not yet ubiquitous,
Relative costs of deployment remain high compared to narrowband,
Access is limited in underserved areas, and Adoption rates remain low relative to availability.

Objectives

Promote the availability of broadband to all Americans.

Conceptualize broadband in a way that includes any platform capable of providing high-bandwidth intensive content.

Clarify and stabilize the regulatory treatment of broadband services.

Encourage and facilitate an environment that stimulates investment and innovation in broadband technology and services.

Harmonize regulation of competing broadband services that are provided via different technologies and network architectures.

Dutifully enforce market-opening requirements.

Monitor social and economic developments in order to provide ongoing national and international policy leadership and consumer education in the emerging broadband arena.

Last Reviewed by FCC 3/13/2003