As part of a Congressional request buried in the 2008 Farm Bill, the FCC today released a report (pdf) on getting broadband services into rural America. According to the FCC, broadband "is the interstate highway of the 21st century for small towns and rural communities, the vital connection to the broader nation and, increasingly, the global economy." The report notes that the $7.2 billion being used for under-served areas is the first salvo in a larger broadband policy, which is due by February of 2010.

According to interim FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, this latest report acts as a stepping stone to the next phase of improvement. Of course the first step in improving broadband is knowing who already has it and at what speed and price, something the FCC hasn't been particularly good at. While the report seems full of a number of obvious conclusions (government has efficiency and communication issues, broadband is really super neat), Copps at least seems well aware that the FCC's data has not been up to snuff:Admitting they don't know how wired we are for broadband is a big step for the FCC, which spent the better part of the last decade pretending that everything was just fine. While the FCC has a long way to go for making up for their dysfunction in recent years, admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.