Type of site Government website Website broadband.gov Commercial No | Available in English, Spanish Alexa rank 374,537 (April 2014) | |
Owner Federal Communications Commission | ||
Broadband.gov is a website run by the Federal Communications Commission of the United States that reports Internet access around the country. The FCC uses the website to document the National Broadband Plan and its implementation, and inform the public about room for improvement by both Internet service providers and users.
Contents
National Broadband Plan
The main purpose of Broadband.gov is to give the public insight into the National Broadband Plan, and the FCC's plans on how to spread the advancements in broadband technology to the nation. The website details how expanding broadband across the nation will improve health care, education, the environment, government performance speeds, civic engagement, and public safety in great detail on separate pages. In addition, the website gives continual progress reports on the government's progress on the National Broadband Plan, in both yearly and quarterly installments. Users can also download the National Broadband Plan from Broadband.gov for consumption by the general public. Any changes to the National Broadband Plan, or reports on the effectiveness of the plan thus far are also posted on the website for users to download and examine.
Workshops
Also contained on Broadband.gov is a list of workshops held by the FCC. "The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan." These meetings are held at the FCC and are put onto the Internet for everyone to have access to them. Past workshops have included how the broadband will be deployed, how schools, small businesses, and on-the-job training will benefit, and the issues that can come up with distributing broadband to the nation. Field events are also planned across the nation to help the FCC get word out on the National Broadband Plan, broadband.gov, and the FCC's plans for the future work on the Broadband initiative. Field events also give the public a chance to respond directly to FCC representatives about their concerns on the National Broadband Plan.
Blog
Broadband.gov also encompasses one of the FCC's official blogs, nicknamed the BlogBand. The blog gives an inside view on the National Broadband plan and related issues. Here, various FCC commissioners and chair people make their comments on the future of the National Broadband plan, and the FCC's official stance on various forms of technology, such as the advancement of smartphone applications and their effects on our daily routines, or a summary on the latest Consumer Electronics Show, and what the latest technologies could bring. The blog also gives progress on broadband.gov as well, giving statistical information about the usage of various parts of the website, such as the National Broadband Map.