Upgrading the Nation’s Networks

Posted on Mar 14, 2010

Filckr / Icky Pic

The FCC is set to announce a major development in U.S. Internet policy this week. The proposal would upgrade the nation’s broadband infrastructure by increasing users’ bandwidth speeds perhaps to 25 times the current average.

The U.S. is lagging (pun definitely intended) behind countries like South Korea and Japan in terms of Internet speed, as existing domestic broadband networks have been slow to adapt to heavy bandwidth usage for content like streaming high-definition video. —JCL

Reuters:

U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours.

Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.

“This is a fairly unique event,” said Paul Gallant, an analyst with Concept Capital. “The FCC really has never been asked to design a broad regulatory shift like this. Broadband is important and difficult because it threatens every established communications sector.”

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