Bringing Internet access to every American: The 5th anniversary of the National Broadband Plan

In 2000, only eight million Americans had broadband in their homes; by 2009, that number had grown exponentially to nearly 200 million. As a result of this expansion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandated that the Federal Communications Commission develop a National Broadband Plan, to “ensure that the entire broadband ecosystem—networks, devices, content and applications—is healthy.” Among its long-term goals, the plan aims to bring broadband to another 100 million U.S. homes and position the United States as a world leader in mobile innovation. What progress has been made over the last five years to fulfill these goals?

On June 17, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted an event to discuss the five year anniversary of the National Broadband Plan. A panel of experts discussed the development of the plan, the changes that have been made over the past five years, and what lies ahead for the future of American broadband development.