Congressional Research Service

by Jeff Strabone

by Jeff Strabone

A debate between the Federal Communications Commission and the outgoing Bush administration centers on the FCC's plan to make broadband available for free at government-mandated speeds.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said providing free broadband services would be counterproductive, result in a congested and inefficient broadband, and be inconsistent with the Bush administration's stand that the service should be allocated by the markets, not the government.

Business intelligence is a method of using software programs to analyze huge amounts of electronic data collected by a federal agency or private company. It is increasingly being used to dig through seemingly unrelated data to find relationships that explain events and predict future ones. Executives can then use that information to plan the agency's strategy to meet its mission.