The FCC's Plan to Bring Broadband to Rural America

The FCC’s Plan to Bring Broadband to Rural America

Posted by admin on 08/03/2011 | 0 Comments

According to the June 30^th article in The Daily Item, by Tricia Pursell, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working on a new initiative to bring broadband Internet access to rural areas across the country. As with any new initiative, there are some positive and some not so positive effects of this initiative. Here we will attempt to look at both sides of this situation.

• This initiative will definitely make life easier for those who currently are unable to access the Internet from their homes. Take Susie Ewing for example. Susie works in Beaver Springs where she is able to access the Internet at a decent speed. This is a good thing, she says, because her job requires access to the Internet, but when she goes home at the end of the day, it’s a different story. Living in rural McClure, she has no Internet access.
• Currently there are families in rural Pennsylvania that do have Internet access, yet their neighbors just a quarter of a mile down the road, do not. The FCC’s plan will help to even this out and make the Internet accessible, at a decent speed, to everyone; not just people living in rural Pennsylvania, but in rural areas across the country.
• The FCC has a history of bringing communication technology to rural areas. In the past, they used monies in their fund to support telephone communication to rural areas. By implementing this project and helping to make Internet access, another form of communication, to everyone, will help to move this country forward.

On the surface this all sounds great. But there are some underlying difficulties that should also be considered.

• Typically the FCC has not been able to distribute the funds equally. This issue will leave some people and areas without access in spite of their efforts. They state that they will not increase the size of their fund, which means that the whole process may take longer and leave many areas still waiting.
• Their Connect America Fund plans include subsidizing Internet service providers if ‘their costs to bring service to rural locations is way high above what the norm is.” This opens up a whole lot of questions as to who determines whether the cost is “way high above what the norm is,” and what prevents a service provider from taking advantage of this subsidy?
• The Universal Service fund, from which the Connect America Initiative fund comes, has been accused of being wasteful and inefficient in the past. There is concern that this will continue, but the FCC has answered that concern with its plan to require accountability from the companies receiving subsidies and will distribute the funds for access more evenly.

As with any new plan or initiative there are positive aspects and some negative aspects; the Connect America plan is no different. The people in rural areas who will be getting broadband Internet access for the first time, because of this initiative, will agree- there will be only positive aspects!

Taken From Broadband Service Providers