FCC National Broadband Plan Notice Of Inquiry Process

Last week i wrote about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to develop a modern national broadband plan that will seek to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability. The plan creation has been charged by Congress as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The 59 page NOI broadband plan document is open for comment until June 8, 2009 with the FCC required to reply to comments on July 7, 2009. Let's look at the process.

Notices of Inquiry (NOIs) are Issued by the FCC as a way to collect comment, ideas and input on given topics. NOIs are given time deadlines and any interested party can submit comments before the dates indicated on the first page of the NOI. Comments can be filed a couple different ways:

• Using the FCC's’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ or the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Filers should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting comments.

• Paper filing that requires four copies of each filing be addressed and delivered to the Commissions Secretary.

Details on filing procedures can be found starting on page 41 of the NOI.

What can be commented on? Here's a quote in the NOI appendix from FCC Commissioner Robert M. Dowell:

Because we begin with a clean slate, this Notice of Inquiry presents myriad questions. Some are narrow and specific. Others are broader. All are important. If commenters think of questions we should have asked but did not, please raise them. If you disagree with the premise of a question, by all means say so. Your advice will help us to develop a thoughtful, reasonable, practical and pragmatic plan.

Critical work as we move forward in our country.