Communications Act and Hi-speed Internet....

[Bigmack]

Help me out... somewhere I heard (PBS's NOW maybe) that the Communications act in the 1990's gave away the public airwaves and one of the tradeoffs was supposed to be free or cheap Hi-speed Internet access.

I've Googled and all that, but no specific info about that provision.

Am I having a senior moment... or are we all supposed to be broadbanding all over the country for cheap.

Tell me what you know.... OK?

[bananas]

1. Might be a court decision

You might have the logic backwards - because of the internet,
there was less need for restrictions on tv regarding fairness and monopoly ownership
(or so the reasoning went...)

[Why Syzygy]

2. Here's something ..

In one place FCC says they do not regulate, but in another they say the do?

Broadband
All Americans should have affordable access to robust and reliable broadband products and services. Regulatory policies must promote technological neutrality, competition, investment, and innovation to ensure that broadband service providers have sufficient incentive to develop and offer such products and services.

Description
Broadband technologies, which encompass all evolving high-speed digital technologies that provide consumers integrated access to voice, high-speed data, video-on-demand, and interactive delivery services, are a fundamental component of the communications revolution. Fully-evolved broadband will:

Virtually eliminate geographic distance as an obstacle to acquiring information, and
Dramatically reduce the time it takes to access information.
All will benefit as broadband’s technologies are developed and deployed. Nonetheless:

The infrastructure is not yet ubiquitous,
Relative costs of deployment remain high compared to narrowband,
Access is limited in underserved areas, and
Adoption rates remain low relative to availability.

Objectives

Promote the availability of broadband to all Americans. ... (cont'd)

http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/

On March 14, 2002, the FCC adopted another major rulemaking, part of a series of actions, designed to promote widespread deployment of broadband services. The FCC settled a debate over the regulatory classification of cable modem service and launched a proceeding to examine the proper regulatory treatment of this service. In a Declaratory Ruling, the FCC concluded that cable modem service is properly classified as an interstate information service and is therefore subject to FCC jurisdiction. The FCC determined that cable modem service is not a "cable service" as defined by the Communications Act. The FCC also said that cable modem service does not contain a separate "telecommunications service" offering and therefore is not subject to common carrier regulation.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/highspeedaccessnoi/

I read in one place that the Federal Trade Commission is encourage a WiFi matrix for municipalities to adopt.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2006/10/V060021municipalprovwirelessinternet.pdf