This morning, the FCC held an Open Meeting to introduce its report Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) that will be delivered to Congress today. Calling it "an ambitious agenda for connecting all corners of the nation while transforming the economy and society with the communications network of the future -- robust, affordable Internet," the Commission found that nearly 100 million Americans lack broadband at home today and 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband.

"The National Broadband Plan is a 21st century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, protect our citizens and engage in our democracy," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "It's an action plan, and action is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues."

Perhaps as important as what the NBP contains is what it does not contain. "Scanning through its 376 pages, there is but one reference to broadband over power lines (BPL) -- and that is only a passing mention of its classification as an information service," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "There is no mention of BPL as a means of implementing the Plan's goals for broadband deployment. In short, the FCC sees no role for BPL in providing broadband Internet connections to more consumers."