White House Details National Broadband Plan

President Barack Obama has detailed the National Broadband Plan that he and his administration has set forth in order to provide broadband access in historically underserved rural areas of the country, along with the planned national public safety network for first responders.The plan involves freeing up 500MHz of spectrum with incentives being offered to current spectrum holders in the form of a revenue share from the spectrum sale via multiple auctions.

The second part of the plan details allocating $5 billion to build out 4G network infrastructure in rural areas, with the goal of the rural network buildout eventually offering coverage to 98% of the country, with an additional $3 billion being offered to cover both research, development and rollout costs. Though the buildout plan has been detailed, it’s not known whether it will take into account current private sector initiatives. The third part and the one most emphasized by the administration is the $10.7 billion outlay for its planned national broadband network for public safety.

The administration detailed its plan to cover the costs by suggesting that the spectrum auctions would bring in an estimated total of $27.8 billion, with $9 billion being used for current deficit reduction. The administration has also stated that the government will be freeing up 115MHz of current Federally owned spectrum itself, along with an additional 95MHz it seeks to free up by increasing efficiency with infrastructure improvements. It should also be noted that a reform of the Universal Service Fund for wired telecommunications has been proposed to assist with the plan in order to more effectively apply the funds towards the development of mobile broadband.