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Mar. 10, 2010

According to a statement from yesterday's Knight Commission's Digital Inclusion Summit in Washington, the FCC said it is seriously considering using wireless spectrum for free or at least low-cost 3G service.

The Commission said its upcoming National Broadband Plan will consider the use of wireless spectrum for a free or very low cost mobile broadband service.

The FCC is also recommending that its low-cost phone service programs, Lifeline and Link-Up, be expanded to include broadband Internet access as well.

The agency also plans to launch a new program called the National Digital Literacy Corps, which would be similar to programs like AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps.

The FCC's newly proposed Digital Literacy Corps would target vulnerable communities with below-average adoption rates like low-income housing developments, rural towns, tribal lands and areas populated primarily by racial and ethnic minorities.

FCC Commissioner M.Clyburn said in a speech "overall, wireless broadband is one of our generation's most important challenges, primarily because it presents one of our most important opportunities. Universal broadband and the skills to use it can also lower barriers of means and distance to help achieve a more equal opportunity for all Americans."

The FCC's recommendations come as part of its national plan to expand home broadband use to 90 percent of U.S. citizens by 2020.

As of today, about 92.9 million U.S. citizens don't have broadband Internet access at home.

Overall adoption rates are especially low among rural residents, the elderly, the disabled and most ethnic minorities.

The Commission's formal National Broadband Plan will be released during an open meeting next Tuesday. Last month, the Commission named healthcare and education as two of its top priorities.

The commission also named energy, the environment, government performance and public safety as other priorities in its plan. The FCC's Broadband Plan update also held good news for public safety officials. The U.S. government agency recommended the creation of a nationwide, interoperable, wireless broadband public safety network that would support next-generation 911 emergency services.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski also called for increased investments in "smart grid" technology. In a statement, Genachowski said "every home in America should be connected to the smart grid and have access to actionable energy data."

Smart grid technology also has been a priority of President Barack Obama since he came into power in January 2009. These news could be a small bonanza for the nascent telehealth care industry.

The FCC is calling for expanded reimbursement for e-care, increased pilot programs, revised credentialing requirements and clarified regulations for converged communications and healthcare devices.

Telehealth frequently uses smartphones and M2M (machine to machine) technology in remote monitoring devices for patients.

The soon to be proposed FCC Broadband Plan will also include various recommendations for boosting civic engagement in the U.S. government and strengthening homeland security.

Missing from the update were expected reforms for the Universal Service Fund and proposals for increasing spectrum availability for wireless broadband.

In other FCC news, commission officials Phil Bellaria and John Leibovitz, director of scenario planning for the FCC's Omnibus Broadband Initiative and deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, respectively, say the increased traffic that could be generated by the iPad is probably reminiscent of the huge congestion that first-generation Internet dialup users experienced following AOL's 1996 decision to allow unlimited Web access.

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Source: The Federal Communications Commission.