FCC Broadband Recommendations

The FCC will deliver its National Broadband Plan to Congress on March 17, which will detail strategies for expanding affordable, world-class broadband throughout the county.

This will be a strategy for U.S. global leadership in high-speed Internet to create jobs and spur economic growth; to unleash new waves of innovation and investment; and to improve education, health care, energy efficiency, public safety, and the vibrancy of our democracy.

The draft broadband plan makes a number of recommendations on increasing broadband adoption to FCC, Congress and other branches of government and the private and non-profit sectors. They include:

Improve digital literacy for all Americans

• Public funding for a Digital Literacy Corps to conduct skills training and outreach in communities with low rates of adoption, while building workforce skills for Corps members
• Increase the capacity and knowledge in libraries and community centers to provide digital literacy training
• Creation of an Online Skills Portal, containing free, age-appropriate lessons from the technology and education sectors that users can access and use at their own pace

Show how broadband is relevant

• Public funding for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to support public-private partnerships
• Private and non-profit partnerships in national outreach and awareness campaigns
• Targeted support for seniors

Make broadband more affordable

• Expand to include broadband in two FCC programs that currently help make voice telephone service more affordable, known as Lifeline and Link-Up
• Consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service

Improve focus on measurement, best practices and state and local initiatives

• Use remaining Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) funds to enhance state and local broadband initiatives and planning
• Augment this with increased focus on evaluation and assessment of all adoption programs
• Creation of a Best Practices Clearinghouse for practitioners to share lessons on how to improve broadband access, adoption and utilization

To read the entire press release, please download Strategies to Increase Broadband Adoption & Use Gain Support

For more information on the FCC

See Tessie Guillermo's blog on FCC's Digital Inclusion Recommendations