The FCC says it will move forwards with four key areas of its broadband plan over the next year, including a reform of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and increasing the availability of spectrum for mobile broadband.
The FCC also said it will work to increase the competitiveness of broadband services, including the establishment what it called “consistent policy frameworks” for access and wholesale wireline competition.
Public safety also got top priority in 2010. The FCC said it will work on the creation of a long-awaited nationwide, interoperable public safety network based on LTE technology.
The FCC’s 2010 agenda was released just days after the agency lost a critical court ruling over its authority to enforce net neutrality guidelines. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the court decision did not change its broadband policy goals or undermine its authority to achieve those goals.
“The court did not question the FCC’s goals; it merely invalidated one technical, legal mechanism for broadband policy chosen by prior commissions,” he said in a statement. “It is essential that the commission act on this roadmap to protect America’s global competitiveness and help deliver the extraordinary benefits of broadband to all Americans.”
A timetable of the FCC’s agenda can be found here.
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