Goal No. 1: At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100
megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second.
The United States must lead the world in the number of homes and people with access to affordable, world-class broadband connections. As such, 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and actual upload speeds of at least 50 Mbps by 2020. This will create the world’s most attractive market for broadband applications, devices and infrastructure.
The plan has recommendations to foster competition, drive demand for increased network performance and lower the cost of deploying infrastructure. These recommendations include providing consumers with information about the actual performance of broadband services, reviewing wholesale access policies and conducting more thorough data collection to monitor and benchmark competitive behavior. Reforming access to rights-of-way can lower the cost of upgrades and entry for all firms. Increased spectrum availability and use for backhaul can enable more capable wireless networks that will drive wired providers to improve network performance and ensure service is affordable.
Government can also help create demand for more broadband by enabling new applications across our most important
national priorities, including health care, education and energy, and by ensuring consumers have full control of their
personal data.
As a milestone, by 2015, 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of 50 Mbps and actual upload speeds of 20 Mbps.
Goal No. 2: The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.
Mobile broadband is growing at unprecedented rates. From smartphones to app stores to e-book readers to remote patient monitoring to tracking goods in transit and more, mobile services and technologies are driving innovation and playing an increasingly important role in our lives and our economy. Mobile broadband is the next great challenge and opportunity for the United States. It is a nascent market in which the United States should lead.
Spectrum policy is the most important lever government has to help ensure wireless and mobile broadband thrive. Efficient allocation of spectrum consistent with the public interest will maximize its value to society. It will lower network deployment costs, making it easier for new companies to compete and enabling lower prices, more investment and better performance.
Today, the FCC has only 50 megahertz of spectrum in the pipeline that it can assign for broadband use, just a fraction of
the amount that will be necessary to match growing demand. As a result, companies representing 5% of the U.S. economy asked the FCC to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband, saying that “without more spectrum, America’s global leadership in innovation and technology is threatened.”
To achieve this goal of leading the world in mobile broadband, the plan recommends making 500 megahertz of
spectrum newly available for broadband by 2020, with a benchmark of making 300 megahertz available by 2015. In addition, we should ensure greater transparency in spectrum allocation and utilization, reserve spectrum for unlicensed use and make more spectrum available for opportunistic and secondary uses.