USA National Broadband Plan ... Lessons for Kenya

On Tuesday March 16th the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will submit to Congress the National Broadband Plan.

The primary goal is “ to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and [FCC] shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.”

According to a study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, the USA has fallen behind on broadband Internet access. In a poll of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the USA is somewhere between position 15 - 20. The country with the best broadband connectivity and access is South Korea.

According to the NY Times the national broadband plan seeks to "reimagine the nation’s media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country’s dominant communication network".

Kenya, which is undergoing an amazing period of growth with Internet access, can learn some lessons from the approach by the US government and FCC. Unless specific goals are determined it is unlikely that increased and affordable broadband Internet connectivity will be realized in Kenya. Government, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) and research centers (especially at universities) have a vital role to play in this process

The FCC, in collaboration with Ookla (owners of SpeedTest.net) and M-Lab, has released a consumer broadband test; measuring upload and download speeds, latency and jitter. Before using the test the user is required to provide their contact details which is a really cool way to gather user data. Below is a screenshot of my results.

Interestingly the National Broadband Plan is a by-product of the Obama administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) which was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Recovery Act has generally been derided and cited as an example of 'big government', especially by the Republican Party. There will be vigorous debate in the coming weeks on the merits and demerits of this plan.