The significant time devoted by many FCC staffers to work on the National Broadband Plan the past year, and the commission’s attention to the subject, cut into the time and energy available for more routine matters, said broadcast and cable lawyers. That leaves some items languishing, causing some licensees regulatory confusion and leaving complaints unresolved, they said. “While the task Congress assigned to the FCC was enormous, all of the effort and energy the commission put into creating the plan will reap many benefits in the years to come,” said an agency spokesman.

House Democrats endorsed the FCC’s National Broadband Plan a day before its official release. House Republicans gave conditional praise, saying they're watching closely. In an interview, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said he believes legislation will be required to satisfy the plan’s recommendations to revamp the Universal Service Fund, build a public safety wireless network, and identify lightly used spectrum.

Wireless carriers may get less in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan than meets the eye, commission officials indicated Monday. Although the plan recommends that 300 MHz of spectrum be made available for wireless broadband over the next five years and 500 MHz total over 10 years, FCC officials made clear Monday that not all will be dedicated to licensed use. The plan also provides substantial detail in its recommendations for the Universal Service Fund, including a phase-out of the high-cost fund. The plan will be presented to FCC commissioners Tuesday. They won’t vote on the plan, only on a mission statement setting out goals for U.S. broadband policy.

House Democrats endorsed the FCC’s National Broadband Plan a day before its official release. House Republicans gave conditional praise, saying they're watching closely. In an interview, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said he believes legislation will be required to satisfy the plan’s recommendations to revamp the Universal Service Fund, build a public safety wireless network, and identify lightly used spectrum.

The Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen is upbeat on the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, he said in an interview Friday. Implementation of the plan, due Tuesday, falls into three buckets: The FCC, Congress and industry, he said. The FCC should use the plan as its own standard in terms of its decision-making and rulemaking process, he said. It’s also up to Congress, and to the groups involved, to create support for the Congressional changes needed, he said. The private sector as well as end users also need to step up, he said. Meanwhile, the Universal Service Fund revamp, a critical part of the plan, should shift the focus from voice to help provide incentives for broadband service deployments, Cohen said, saying it’s important to set and benchmark specific speed goals. On the wireless side, the CWA is cautious about the “Mobile Future Auction” provision. Wireless speeds deteriorate with use so the more users at a given cell site, the lower the speed is, he said. Additionally, on the broadcast side, robust content and network are critical elements of the Internet, he said, regarding the proposal that calls for a spectrum auction that allows current licensees, including broadcasters, to voluntarily give up spectrum in exchange for a share of auction proceeds. This provision, which has drawn the ire of the National Association of Broadcasters, is one element of a plan to free up 500 MHz of spectrum over the next decade for mobile broadband use. The FCC has been revealing some details of the plan. Among them are the 100 squared proposal to bring 100 Mbps bandwidth capabilities to 100 million homes by 2020. Broadband speed matters, Cohen said. “The Americans need to be shocked” to understand how the country lags behind in broadband speeds and adoption, he said.

The proposed Universal Service Fund contribution increase to 15.3 percent for the 2010 second quarter is no surprise, but continues to show the need for reform, said Steve Berry, CEO of Rural Cellular Association. “We knew it was coming,” he said in an interview. “But the commission has to reform the current process and restructure USF.” Berry said wireless carriers, whose contributions are capped, are not to blame: “The issue is you have a wireline component that loses subscribers every year but their contributions increase every year.” There’s “an antiquated system that supports an antiquated technology and we haven’t figured out a way to reduce that support as people choose to go with different technologies."

The children’s media and Internet agenda of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski ranges from connecting all kids to broadband, starting an interagency working group on Internet safety and combating texting while driving. Other priorities are reducing the number of ads for junk food during kids’ TV shows and establishing “a framework of online norms and values,” Genachowski said at the National Museum of American History. Friday’s event where Genachowski touched on traditional and new media was one of the last to disclose part of the National Broadband Plan before it’s released Tuesday. “A clear and non-negotiable goal [is] every child should be connected to broadband,” with a quarter lacking it now, he said: “As a country we're falling behind."

The children’s media and Internet agenda of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski ranges from connecting all kids to broadband, starting an interagency working group on Internet safety and combating texting while driving. Other priorities are reducing the number of ads for junk food during kids’ TV shows and establishing “a framework of online norms and values,” Genachowski said at the National Museum of American History. Friday’s event where Genachowski touched on traditional and new media was one of the last to disclose part of the National Broadband Plan before it’s released Tuesday. “A clear and non-negotiable goal [is] every child should be connected to broadband,” with a quarter lacking it now, he said: “As a country we're falling behind."

Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., of the House Communications Subcommittee is “very close” to completing his Universal Service Fund bill and hopes to take it to markup sometime this month, he told reporters Wednesday. “We are spending many hours every day working to finalize it” and “get the consent of stakeholders,” he said after a House Commerce Committee markup. (See separate report in this issue.) He wouldn’t say whether he will introduce the bill before or after the FCC’s National Broadband Plan is released. Boucher and the FCC share a goal to switch the fund to supporting broadband, but “the methodology may prove to be somewhat different,” he said. “We will review that broadband plan when it comes forward very carefully, and then we'll be making well-informed decisions as we pursue these goals together.” Boucher said he’s also working hard on his privacy bill, but action on that likely will wait until after USF. “We are working simultaneously on both drafts.” Boucher plans to release a discussion draft in the “near term,” but he wouldn’t specify a date. He said he wants privacy legislation to preserve “all the legitimate advertising practices,” adding, “Our goal is not to interfere with legitimate targeted advertising [or] behavioral advertising practices. Our goal is to give Internet users a greater confidence that their experience on the Web is secure.” Boucher declined to give an example of a legitimate practice before he circulates a discussion draft.

Recommendations in the National Broadband Plan on education include upgrading the E-rate program, supporting and promoting online learning and unlocking the power of data to personalize learning and improve decision-making, said Steve Midgley, the FCC broadband team’s education director. He spoke at a Wednesday briefing hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the State Educational Technology Directors Assocation (SETDA).