FCC Plans Huge Upgrade for US Broadband

The FCC will unveil a massive plan for upgrading America’s broadband infrastructure tomorrow, hoping to bridge the stubborn divide between the digital haves and have-nots. The plan would aim to bring broadband to 90% of Americans by 2020, and increase speeds for those who already have it, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Currently, nearly a third of the country lacks high-speed internet access.

“World-class broadband is our generation’s great infrastructure challenge,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said recently, saying it was “akin to the advent of electricity.” The plan will aim for speeds of 100 megabits per second in 100 million homes, and recommend doubling the amount of the radio spectrum devoted to wireless internet service. It may also recommend redirecting the $8 billion government program subsidizing rural telephone service to subsidize broadband instead. (More broadband internet stories.)