The FCC’s National Broadband Plan, originally set for release in February 2010 until the FCC requested an extension to mid-March, could be the next big business battleground. It could also increase the number of local battlegrounds, as residents fight carriers at city halls over attempts to install more cell sites for FCC-backed wireless broadband.

Generic issues from the banking crisis and the health care financing crisis are pertinent to the debate over the future of broadband:

How can decades of complicated regulations be efficient and consistent with new technologies and delivery methods?

What is government’s appropriate role in pricing and guaranteeing access?

Who will pick up the tab for nationwide provision of services?

How can control over systems and services be balanced with citizens’ freedom, choice and privacy? (In this vein, how can top-down imposition of rules favoring wireless infrastructure expansion be deemed consistent with property rights, local determination, and protection of public health?)

Will a new framework for this huge business sector benefit the country, or a small group of players lobbying for favorable rules and treatment?

FCC’s Broadband Plan Called Infeasible, posted today on PCWorld.com, predicts no immediate action will be taken on the plan.

Going Mobile – CommLawblog, February 24, 2010 spotlighted the issue of wireless providers’ need for more spectrum to serve smartphone applications. Quoting FCC Chair Julius Genachowski:

“the Mobile Future Auction is a win-win proposal: for broadcasters, who win more flexibility to pursue business models to serve their local communities; and for the public, which wins more innovation in mobile broadband services, continued free, over-the-air television, and the benefits of the proceeds of new and substantial auction revenues.”

TV broadcasters, and many members of the public, don’t see it quite that way, as the article goes on to point out.

Other links under the Sunroom Desk paperweight on the FCC Broadband Plan:

FCC misses deadine for broadband plan: They’ll do great with more power – Big Government, February 10, 2010. The comment by Randyl2 is a brilliant analogy:

Government is the worst virus of all, now trying to worm it’s way into the internet. We need a firewall to keep the government out of our lives. Actually our Constitution was enacted to act as a firewall, we just haven’t had the sense to use it regularly to scan all government actions. It’s time we do before the country crashes.

FCC Net Neutrality Workshop Examines Importance of Transparency – BroadbandBreakfast.com, January 21, 2010

McDowell Warns Against Regulation of Broadband As Telecommunications Service – BroadbandBreakfast.com, January 29, 2010, an argument over industry classification (who is subject to what rules).

**”Open Internet Proposals” and Internet Activities by Ordinary Americans, an FCC-invited presentation by Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds, covers citizen journalism, the First Amendment, the temptation of government to control communications channels, and the dangers of rules set up to prevent problems that haven’t yet occurred.

FCC Open Meeting, November 18, 2009 – Petition for declaratory ruling (below) was approved with industry-encouraging statements from each commissioner, followed by a panel discussion for the FCC on progress toward the 2010 National Broadband Plan.

Declaratory Ruling to Clarify Provisions of Section 332(c)(7)(B) to Ensure Timely Siting Review and to Preempt Under Section 253 State and Local Ordinances that Classify All Wireless Siting Proposals as Requiring a Variance – adopted by the FCC, November 18, 2009 – sets time limits for municipal consideration of cell site applications but does not preempt local ordinances classifying wireless siting applications as requiring variances.

FCC discusses barriers to national broadband plan – CNET, November 18, 2009 – summarizes the commission’s open meeting panel discussion on universal broadband access costs and challenges.

Bigger U.S. Role in Broadband Is Likely – Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2009 – discusses broadband penetration in the U.S., lack of spectrum, and the increasing use of smartphones, along with the fact that more towers will be needed to send signals to all those mobile internet devices:

The agency took a step toward expanding wireless Web access by passing a new rule Wednesday to help wireless companies speed up local officials’ decisions on new cellphone towers. Wireless companies asked the FCC for help, because they have had problems in the past getting state and local land-use regulators to make decisions on siting new cellphone towers.

FCC Speeds Cell Tower Reviews – Information Week, November 19, 2009 – is one of the few articles (joining Sunroom Desk’s posts) to lead with the fact that municipalities are now under an FCC “shot clock” when they review cell tower applications, although it takes the industry view that this is a good thing. Cell providers have plans to start “blanketing” their markets with high-frequency signals:

The move comes as many major cellular operators are looking to deploy 4G networks at a rapid pace. Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Clearwire are already delivering 6 Mbps to mobile users with their WiMax network, and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless plans to have up to 30 markets blanketed with its Long-Term Evolution network by the end of 2010.

Receiving far less attention was the question of installing more towers and cell sites where communities object to them, although Gizmodo mentioned it in You Always Wanted a Cell Tower in Your Backyard, Right?

The FCC Chairman’s remarks to the wireless industry gathering strongly affirmed open internet rules, or “net neutrality”, as the commission’s guiding principles for broadband expansion.

Broadcasting and Cable reported

He said that Internet openness would be key to mobile broadband. He reiterated that he believes mobile is the future of broadband. “More and more I hear people say that broadband is the future of mobile, and I agree. I also believe the reverse is true — mobile is essential to the future of broadband.”

He said his network neutrality proposal is meant to clear up confusion over “whether we do or don’t have Internet openness protections.”

The goal, he said, “will be to develop sensible rules of the road. Rules clear enough to provide predictability and certainty, and flexible enough to anticipate and welcome ongoing technological evolution.”

And Wireless Week focused on getting two out of three CTIA wishes:

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski endorsed two CTIA initiatives in his opening keynote at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment today, but didn’t add any detail into the impact his hopes for an open Internet will have on the wireless industry.

Genachowski’s address was interrupted once by mild audience applause – when he promised the FCC will “move forward with a shot-clock proposal designed to speed the process” of getting tower siting approval.

Also under the paperweight, A link to last week’s CTIA conference video highlights, including speeches from industry CEOs.

Mr. Genachowski had a solid bit of good news for wireless carriers. He said the FCC will soon act on a proposal to impose a “shot clock” timetable for companies seeking permission to build cellular towers in local communities.

CTIA has been urging the FCC to act on the tower-siting proposal for years, saying dragged out negotiations with local communities on cell towers harms providers’ ability to improve their networks.

Immunity from municipal zoning restrictions is a big priority for the industry. Additional spectrum (along with more towers) to meet demand for mobile broadband uses is another; Genachowski promised action on that as well.

Recent FCC-proposed internet openness rules, known as “net neutrality”, are disadvantageous to wireless providers, whose transmission is more constrained than wireline broadband. On this front, though, the wireless industry appears to have retreated, as a recent announcement by Apple indicates.

The big driver of mobile data use has been smartphones. Put an iPhone, Pre, BlackBerry, or Android handset in the hands of someone who previously made only voice calls and sent a few text messages, and data use skyrockets.

Wireless carriers are also claiming they don’t have enough spectrum to keep up with demand. The FCC just released a followup public notice: Comment Sought on Spectrum for Broadband, to address this issue in its 2010 Broadband Plan.

A Wall Street Journal update today reports FCC Broadband Plan coordinator Blair Levin estimating that bringing universal high-speed internet access to the U.S. could cost more than $350 billion.

The private sector is the driving force behind Internet investment, said the FCC’s Blair Levin, who is coordinating the commission’s national broadband effort. Mr. Levin sad the $7 billion that the government’s economic-stimulus package put forth for Internet buildout represents a small portion of what is needed to blanket the country with Internet access. It’s still uncertain how much of the cost would be borne by taxpayers.

Two FCC resources on today’s meeting and the status of the Broadband Plan:
September 29, 2009 FCC Broadband Task Force Report
September FCC Broadband Plan Commission Meeting PowerPoint