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- Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plan to improve Internet access in the United States. The FCC was directed to create the plan by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and unveiled its plan on March 16, 2010. The act did not give the FCC specific jurisdiction to carry out a national broadband plan or to amend the universal service provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, but it required that the FCC draft a plan to "include a detailed strategy for achieving affordability and maximizing use of broadband to advance consumer welfare, civic participation, public safety and homeland security, community development, health care delivery, energy independence and efficiency, education, employee training, private sector investment, entrepreneurial activity, job creation and economic growth, and other national purposes." An official website for the plan, broadband.gov, highlighted energy and environment features. Other goals listed were "21st century care", "economic opportunity", "health care", "civic engagement" and "public safety". Broadband maps, tests and reporting of "broadband dead zones" were also featured. Another goal was providing 100 million American households with access to 100 Mbit/s (megabits per second) connections by 2020. Large areas of the United States would be wired for Internet access, and the federal Rural Utilities Service providing some rural areas with landline telephone service would be upgraded. The plan called for broadcasters to give up spectrum for wireless broadband access. The author of the requirement to draw up the plan, U.S. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) praised the FCC's plan as a "roadmap" that would "ensure that every American has access to the tools they need to succeed." The Obama administration promoted the plan, and former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, named the plan "his top priority". (en)
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