The Federal Communications Commission has begun action on <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2115154,00.asp?kc=HOTTOPICS041907STR4">two items involving broadband deployment</A> in the United States. The first is a Notice of Inquiry into whether broadband services are being provided to all Americans in a timely and reasonable fashion. The second is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on methods of collecting information needed to set broadband policy in the future. Both were announced by the Commission late on April 16.

According to a statement released by the FCC, based in Washington, the NOI is a response to a requirement in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that requires the agency to determine whether broadband deployment is progressing as it should. The NPRM is intended to determine whether it's necessary to modify the collection of speed tier information to more accurately determine whether broadband deployment is meeting the needs of diverse communities in the United States.