Now that the Obama administration’s checked healthcare off its “To Do” list, one of the next issues likely to be on the agenda will be the FCC Broadband Plan, a comprehensive overhaul and expansion of broadband service across the country. How much will it cost?
Well, the first part — the actual plan — is already paid for by federal stimulus funds. The FCC held hearings, hosted public workshops, solicited comments, blogged and Twittered its way to a 300-plus-page report on the topic.
If adopted, the plan would expand broadband availability across the country. It will also be designed to allow government safety agencies — which were terribly embarrassed by their inadequate technology on 9/11 — to become seamlessly interconnected.
While these system flaws were glaringly apparent in the wake of the 2001 attacks, virtually no improvements were made in the eight years following the disaster.
The broadband plan is also being designed to support the move to electronic healthcare records, a cornerstone of the new healthcare overhaul initiative.
If enacted, the plan is supposed make the Internet faster, standardize electronic voting, increase telecommuting options, improve Web infrastructure, open access to government, boost mobile capability and expand e-learning opportunities.
Oh, and everybody gets a pony. No pony? Sorry folks, I just learned that nobody gets a pony.
But it goes without saying that none of this will be free.
The FCC estimates that the interoperable network alone would require as much as $6.5 billion over 10 years.
The costs associated with keeping these efforts sustainable, however, could be between $12 billion and $16 billion.
One way to get those funds? Add a surcharge to broadband service. “Imposing a minimal public safety fee on all U.S. broadband users would be a fair, sustainable and reasonable funding mechanism. The fee should be sufficient to support the operation and evolution of the public safety broadband network,” the FCC said.
In the FCC’s estimation, a $1 per month fee per broadband user for the interoperability needed to assure public safety is nominal enough.
But all those other benefits will come with a price tag as well. As businesses and consumers depend increasingly on the Internet to communicate and get work done, however, the improvements outlined in the FCC’s plan will be crucial.
It’s likely that more and more Web-related fees will be added to any service that uses the Internet to function. The question is: Who will be paying these fees?
Best guess: the consumer, who always sits at the bottom of the hill where things roll only one way.
You can download a copy of the FCC’s broadband plan here.
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