FCC announces Gigabit City Challenge

News Wireless United States 18 JAN 2013
FCC announces Gigabit City Challenge

The Federal Communications Commission has announced that at the US Conference of Majors Winter Meeting, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called for at least one gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015 in a Gigabit City Challenge. At gigabit speeds, connections can handle multiple streams of large-format, high-definition content like online video calls, movies and immersive educational experiences. To help communities meet the Gigabit City Challenge, Chairman Genachowski announced plans to create a new online clearinghouse of best practices to collect and disseminate information about how to lower the costs and increase the speed of broadband deployment nationwide, including to create gigabit communities.

Genachowski also announced that the FCC will hold workshops on gigabit communities that will convene leaders from the gigabit community ecosystem, including broadband providers and state and municipal leaders, to evaluate barriers, increase incentives and lower costs of speeding gigabit network deployment. The Gig.U initiative has already catalysed USD 200 million in private investment to build ultra-high-speed hubs in the communities of leading research universities.

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