Stakeholders will have some extra time to ponder the many possible variations on broadband deployment.
The FCC has extended the reply comment deadline for its national broadband plan to July 21.
Several parties asked for the extention, pointing to the fact that there were more than 500 comments, some lengthy and detailed, that were being replied to.
The initial reply comment deadline had been July 7. The FCC cited the "vastness of the record" and "magnitude of the issues involved" in granting the extension, and said it does not routinely grant them. But it actually does grant a fair number of extensions over holiday weekends, with the July 7 deadline falling the Tuesday after the July 4 holiday.
But the FCC also said time is short and that it didn't plan any more extensions.
The vastness is obvious in the 500-plus figure. The magnitude is that the FCC has until next February to present Congress with a plan for getting broadband to everyone in the country, a task that extends beyond communications and entertainment to virtually every sector, from health care and education to energy and public services.
The plan is part of the broadband initiatives in the president's economic stimulus package.
