Last week, the Federal Communications Commission released its long-awaited national broadband plan.

 

Which sets nationwide Internet service goals for the next 12 years. Vermont President of Fairpoint, Mike Smith, talks about how will it affect Vermonters.

"There are many questions regarding the policy just released by the FCC with little sort of clarifying detail of what it means or how is this going to be done or what does this specific detail mean."

Smith has a lot of things to say about the new policy but overall he agrees with the FCC's overall plan.

"I think we all can agree that spreading the availability of high speed Internet to more Americans at a lower cost is a good thing."

Though he has some caveats and points out that the plan still has a long way to go.

"You know here's the bottom line for me this has a long way to travel before it gets approved by congress and is implemented."

Smith's biggest concern is that in the rush towards newer technologies like wireless Internet service cause people to forget about the infrastructure that makes those technologies work.

"Most of today's broadband service, cell service, phone service, flows over a wired network that infrastructure is the backbone of our communications in the United States."

He also thinks that a wired network still needs to be taken care of in order to move ahead.

"There is a backbone out there that needs to be maintained and sort of coveted as we look to the future."

In the end he thinks that the FCC's goals will probably be met long before 2020 through private competition.

"Ironically I think that goal is uh is probably going to be reached that hundred million is probably going to be reached on it's own in the next few years."