The Federal Communications Commission moved ahead yesterday on developing its "third way" approach to governing broadband. The Commission voted 3-2 Thursday to "move toward giving itself the authority to regulate the transmission component of broadband Internet service, a power the commission’s majority believes is central to expanding the availability of broadband," according to the New York Times. 

The Commission's intentions are exempt broadband from most regulation, but maintaining those powers necessary "to implement fundamental universal service, competition and market entry, and consumer protection policies.” The FCC is soliciting public comments on this proposal.

This regulatory mumbo-jumbo does have some impact on rural areas. According to CNET.com, the FCC "believes it will give the agency the necessary authority to move forward with proposals laid out in the National Broadband Plan, such as reforming the Universal Service Fund to expand its use for subsidizing broadband services in rural and low-income areas." 

The major providers (Verizon and AT&T) object to the FCC's direction. They say the FCC's intervention will slow rollout of broadband to under-served areas. 

“The unregulated, market-driven approach to providing broadband has not worked for us.” So writes filmmaker Mimi Pickering of Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Pickering’s op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader advocates support for the FCC’s plan to reclassify broadband services: to bring high-speed Internet “under the same common carrier provisions that have enabled over 95 percent of American households to receive and afford phone service.”

As the laws now stand, telecommunications companies are not required to extend broadband service into less profitable localities. This system, Pickering writes, has left low-income urban areas and many rural communities with Internet connections too slow to meet their business and education needs.

Bringing broadband service into line with telephone regulations is part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.

For those of you who are interested in broadband, we know where you'll want to be Monday afternoon between 2 and 3 pm EDT.

The National Rural Assembly is holding a webinar entitled: "Broadband Regulation: What Title II Reclassification Means to Rural America." This is in reference to the maneuvering now underway in response to a recent federal court decision that has restricted the Federal Communications Commission's control over the Internet. The FCC is now trying to reassert its control over broadband. Placing broadband under Title II of the Communications Act would "give the Commission direct authority over entitites providing 'telecommunication services,'" according to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. 

The webinar will tell you what all this means for rural communities. The session will be led by Matt Wood, associate director of the Media Access Project; Amalia Deloney, coordinator for Media Action Grassroots Network; and Wally Bowen, executive director of Mountain Area Information Network (and former Yonder contributor).

It's free. So sign up right here.

A company specializing in measuring Internet use has found that "broadband penetration in rural markets has experienced double-digit growth in the past year, driven largely by regional providers continuing to capture an increasing share of the market in these areas." 

 ComScore, Inc., a publicly traded company that measures digital media, reports that rural areas still lag metropolitan communities in the percentage of residents with broadband. But that difference is narrowing. 

"Fueled by greater price competition, increased consumer demand, and growth in bandwidth-intense activities like video streaming and peer-to-peer sharing, broadband penetration continues to make gains across rural markets," ComScore reported. "Broadband penetration in rural markets reached 81 percent in Q4 2009, representing a sizeable increase of 13 percentage points in the past year alone."

In the three most rural markets, broadband penetration reached 61% in Alaska, 56% in Wyoming and 52% in Montana.