FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says the government has a crucial but "restrained" role in the rollout of broadband, and should focus with "laser-like" precision on solutions.
That is according to prepared testimony for his appearance Tuesday before the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday (March 23).
He talks about the support the plan has gotten from a cross-section of industry players, and says the plan is fiscally prudent, including touting the billions in revenue that could come from opportunities for new spectrum auctions "exceeding any funding or investments that the Plan suggests for Congressional consideration."
Among others, the FCC is looking to broadcasters to give up at least 120 MHz of spectrum for auctioning, whose estimated value is in the billions of dollars by itself.
The chairman echoed his belief that broadband is the key to job growth and that the U.S. is lagging in key metrics. One, in particular, which found the U.S. was dead last among 40 countries in ""the rate of change in innovative capacity," he called "the canary in the coal mine."
