A mid-progress update from an FCC panel said today that the US may need $20 billion to $350 billion invested into broadband to realize current government plans for readily available, national Internet access. The agency warns that its data is incomplete but that the figures may be necessary depending on the guaranteed speeds, with $20 billion covering relatively basic broadband while the top sum would cover high-grade access. The figure is well beyond the $7.2 billion so far assigned to the initiative.
