RICK BOUCHER
9TH DISTRICT, VIRGINIA
COMMITIHS
ENERGY AND COMMERCE
&UllCOMMITIEES
C"AI~MAN.
COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY
ANO THE: INTERNET
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
JUDICIARY
SUllCOMMITIEE
COURTS AND COMPETITION POLICY
CO-CHAIR,
CONGRESSIONAL INTERNET CAUCUS
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December 17,2009
WASHINGTON OFFlCE;
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The Honorable Julius Genachowski
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12
th
Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Genachowski:
As you develop recommendations for the National Broadband Plan, a valuable
goal would be to ensure that all Americans, regardless oftheir income or location, have
access to high-quality broadband services. To that end, the Commission's plan should
promote substantially higher Internet speeds and higher capacity networks and should
include two goals.
First, the Commission should seek universal availability ofbroadband. We must
reduce the number ofunserved households and substantially increase the broadband
adoption rate as quickly as possible. We are well along in Congress in drafting legislation
that can help further this important goal, as reflected in the Universal Service Reform Act
under consideration by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the
Internet. I would welcome any suggestions you might have beyond adoption ofthis
legislation to advance this important goal, such as means to provide additional support to
anchor institutions, libraries, research institutions, and community organizations.
Second, the Commission should explicitly endorse a goal for minimum broadband
speeds, ofat least 50 megabits downstream and 20 megabits upstream for 80 percent of
the population by 2015. Without committing to such ambitious, but achievable, levels of
speed and service, the promises oftelemedicine, distance learning and telecommuting
may remain a far-off dream rather than a near-term reality. Ifwe fail to achieve such a
goal, our nation will likely remain well behind other industrialized countries that are
racing ahead and gaining a competitive advantage by doing so.
Ifwe are ambitious enough, the United States could again rank first
internationally in providing competitive, high-speed broadband service to households and
businesses throughout the nation. Absent adoption ofan ambitious goal, it could take the
United States more than a decade to match current broadband speeds in, for example,
2060
South Korea. Accordingly, the development ofaccelerated broadband speeds as standard
offerings for consumers is an essential part ofthe foundation for the nation's long-term
economic stability and prosperity.
I look forward to receiving your recommendations and working with you and
your colleagues to advance our shared goa .
Rick Boucher
Member ofCongress