FCC: 8 Strategic Recommendations from the TAC

The FCC's Technical Advisory Council (TAC) has taken a proactive approach to national broadband deployment, by releasing eight recommendations for the Commission on Monday.  TAC Chairman Tom Wheeler claims the suggestions are an attempt to help the Commission utilize its leadership effectively, and keep this revolutionary broadband process moving forward.  Encouraging full deployment in the near future is the goal, and the following recommendations will help reduce costs and and increase efficiency:

1. Build an online database for all trenching work (communications, utilities, or any other endeavors).  This is to reduce construction costs by encouraging all of the needed work to be completed in one trenching effort, instead of having the area burdened multiple times.
2. Conduct a national traveling seminar "roadshow" to educate state and local governments about new technologies (such as microtrenching) that make deployment of broadband infrastructure less disruptive.
3. Permitting entities to streamline the process used to request additional antennas and infrastructure added to already existing cell sites.
4. Create program to share and promote best practices among governmental entities deploying broadband infrastructure.
5. Request that President Obama issue an executive order mandating a streamlined approval process for antennas on federal buildings and rights of way.
6. Establish metrics (beyond just data speed) to measure network quality.
7. Promote small-cell technology (such as femtocells and picocells) to improve spectrum utilization.
8. Initiate open dialogue on the transition from legacy telephone service to IP, including policies and codes needed for the deployment of new technology. 

According to Wheeler, none of these recommendations takes priority over the others.  These recommendations come as a packaged strategy for the Commission to act upon, to prepare for timely deployment of national broadband technology.  For more in-depth information, see the Urgent Communications article.