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FCC's National Broadband Plan detailed early, calls for 100Mb/s home connections
One of the FCC's ideas would bring free or very cheap wireless Internet by relicensing as much as 500MHz of spectrum currently occupied by television broadcasters. The FCC also hopes subsidize service in poor and rural areas, and boost the connection speed of 100 million US households to 100Mb/s. Additionally, the plan aims to bring 1Gb/s speeds to at least one anchor institution in every American community, such as a school, library, or hospital.
The Internet would ultimately replace phones, TV and other conventional technologies as the primary form of communication in the US. Naturally, the agency already faces opposition from industries that might take a hit in the wallet. Nonetheless, FCC chairmen Julius Genachowski feels this shift has happened before, comparing the emergence of broadband to infrastructure challenges previously posed by telephones and electricity.
Genachowski argues that broadband expansion could stimulate the economy -- which has seen better days. "Broadband will be the indispensable platform to assure American competitiveness, ongoing job creation and innovation, and will affect nearly every aspect of Americans' lives at home, at work, and in their communities."
User Comments: 36
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Wagan8r said:
Government and business should never mix. While it sounds nice to have "free or cheap Internet for everyone!", as soon as the government owns it, the people never will. I would much rather pay Comcast $30 a month than the government $60 a month (via taxes).
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I have gigabit at home right now, so this doesn't affect me.
I think it's a great idea though. Very socially responsible, if they implement it correctly, and not as a tool to control the masses.
While the idea of the government controlling our access to information makes me nervous, the last article pointed out that if no free internet infrastructure is put in place, a new class of citizen will emerge - he who has limited access to information about what's going on in the world. And I don't feel comfortable living in a democracy where some voters are so poorly informed
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While I would certainly be ecstatic to have 100Mb/s internet, I would love to see Google crap all over the government with their 1Gb/s fiber. Hopefully Google gets the ball rolling on its test city and enjoys such success that they plan to bring fiber everywhere. Gogo Google!
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I'm also scared that goverments will own the internet and control our access to information, blocking websites and such. And like flannelwarrior said about not knowing whats going on in the world all of this is really scary.
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Works for me
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I am torn on this one I think competition is good for us all but I am unsure how the government will integrate its self into this market. This could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing. I just want competition the more the merrier I say. We all win with competition service goes up and prices come down. I just hope its not a monopolistic plan the government has.
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cyrusjumpjet said:
Again, this is amazing, fantastic, incredible....
And I wish I were more optimistic that it could actually happen. USA, please prove me wrong.
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Uh, no. The internet wont be replacing landlines anytime soon, just like cell phones arent the be all and end all. There are a lot of places where you dont get a signal, who wants to put all their eggs in that basket in case of an emergency? Not me.
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Right now, if Internet speed would be boosted, it would be a miracle, and would probably help dial-up users upgrade to better standards.
However, I do agree that the Internet could replace services like phone, TV, etc. I watch videos online sometimes, and it can be just as enjoyable as television.
Skype does have a lot of attention, but not enough to consider replacing regular phone.
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Well, I had not thought the speed would be this good. This is toleable. I suppose the question when time comes is just how reliable and what about tech support.
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I only can dream, connections are still slow and expensive in my country.
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