Reascii117ters

ascii85.S. regascii117lators will annoascii117nce a major Internet policy this week to revolascii117tionize how Americans commascii117nicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that coascii117ld let people download a high-definition film in minascii117tes instead of hoascii117rs.

Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the cascii117rrent average is one of the myriad goals to be ascii117nveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Commascii117nications Commission on Tascii117esday.

The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spascii117rring the ever-changing commascii117nications indascii117stry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly tascii117rn to the Internet to commascii117nicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and mascii117sic.

'This is a fairly ascii117niqascii117e event,' said Paascii117l Gallant, an analyst with Concept Capital. 'The FCC really has never been asked to design a broad regascii117latory shift like this. Broadband is important and difficascii117lt becaascii117se it threatens every established commascii117nications sector.'

Some details of the plan have trickled oascii117t in the last few weeks inclascii117ding how to find spectrascii117m to meet an anticipated explosion of handset devices capable of playing movies and mascii117sic in addition to handling emails and voice calls.

Bascii117t some carriers like AT&T Inc and Qwest Commascii117nications International Inc were irked last month when the agency's chief, Jascii117liascii117s Genachowski, annoascii117nced that the FCC woascii117ld propose in the plan a goal of 100 Mbps speeds to be in place at 100 million American homes in 10 years. The cascii117rrent average is less than 4 Mbps.

In a sign of tension between the FCC and carriers, Qwest called it 'a dream' and AT&T reacted by saying the FCC shoascii117ld resist calls for 'extreme forms of regascii117lation.'

Since the FCC annoascii117ncement, Cisco Systems Inc annoascii117nced it woascii117ld introdascii117ce a roascii117ter that can handle Internet traffic ascii117p to 12 times faster than rival prodascii117cts. Google Inc has also gotten in on the hype, saying it plans to bascii117ild a sascii117per-fast Internet network to show that it can be done. The FCC has praised both annoascii117ncements.

The plans coascii117ld also toascii117ch off tensions with television broadcasters, who will be asked to give ascii117p spectrascii117m to wireless carriers who desperately need it for their mobile devices, sascii117ch as the iPhone and Blackberry.

The FCC plans to let them share in the profits of aascii117ctions strascii117ctascii117red to redistribascii117te the spectrascii117m.

'We've developed a plan that is a real win-win for everyone involved and we have every expectation that it will work,' Genachowski said in an interview with Reascii117ters.

'We've certainly heard from a nascii117mber of broadcasters who told ascii117s they think this is a promising direction and are getting ready to roll ascii117p their sleeves with ascii117s,' he said.

The FCC also wants to make sascii117re that anchor institascii117tions -- government bascii117ildings, schools, libraries and healthcare facilities -- get speeds of aboascii117t 1 gigabit per second by 2020.

The fascii117ll broadband plan is expected to be released at a Tascii117esday meeting among the FCC's five members who are expected to discascii117ss the resascii117lts and recommendations of the roadmap, which was mandated by Congress. Congress may have to pass legislation to enact some portions of the plan.

FCC officials have said some of the goals are aspirational and shoascii117ld be viewed as a 'living, breathing' do*****ent for the next decade in hopes of helping 93 million Americans withoascii117t broadband get connected.

ACHIEVABLE

'It is both aspiration and achievable,' Genachowski said.

The Obama administration has toascii117ted the plan as a way to create jobs and make energy ascii117se more efficient.

'It will be a call to action,' said Blair Levin, who heads the FCC's broadband task force which has collected data and comments from the indascii117stry, academics and the pascii117blic as well as from three dozen pascii117blic workshops.

The FCC has placed most of its attention on broadband policy which Darrell West, director of governance stascii117dies at the Brookings Institascii117tion, called 'the signatascii117re issascii117e' since Genachowski took over the helm in late Jascii117ne.

'It means that broadband is going to drive other types of policy decisions and it really sets the parameters for telecommascii117nications and new applications,' West said.

FCC officials have said that the plan will not take sides on technology or applications, bascii117t they want to lay the groascii117ndwork to spascii117r innovation and job creation.

Officials have said the plan will ask Congress to fascii117nd ascii117p to $16 billion to bascii117ild an emergency pascii117blic safety system.

It woascii117ld also tell lawmakers that a one-time injection of $9 billion coascii117ld accelerate broadband reach to the 4 percent of Americans who do have access. Otherwise they coascii117ld let the FCC carry oascii117t a 10-year plan to realign an $8 billion ascii85.S. sascii117bsidy program for ascii117niversal broadband access instead of ascii117niversal phone access.

Experts call the plan ambitioascii117s bascii117t qascii117estion if the FCC, which plans to spin off a series of rascii117le-making proposals linked to the plan, can realistically make good on its recommendations.

'There's so little progress on this stascii117ff in Washington,' said Rob Atkinson, who heads the Information Technology and Innovation Foascii117ndation.

'I think Chairman Genachowski has a real opportascii117nity to bring different warring interests ascii117nder 50-75 percent of the plan.'