With 141 days left until the FCC is scheduled to unveil their national broadband plan before Congress, the agency today issued a statement and a 168 page slide show examining what they've accomplished at the halfway point. According to the FCC, they've conducted 26 workshops and hearings, where 230 different witnesses testified. 41,000 pages of written comments have been filed with the FCC, who also notes they've made 40 whole blog posts (phew!) since the agency started hanging with the kids on Twitter, Facebook and social media.

According to agency analysis, expanding broadband into all the country's nooks and crannies could cost carriers and taxpayers between $20 billion for 768 Mbps-3 Mbps service, to $350 billion for 100 Mbps or faster. The agency also says that between three to six million people are unserved by basic broadband (speeds of 768 Kbps or less). The FCC says nearly two-thirds of Americans have adopted broadband, 33% have access but haven't signed up, and 4% have no access (which seems low).

The report includes various other interesting tidbits, including the claim that real world ISP broadband speeds are often 50 percent to 80 percent slower than advertised speeds. The agency also notes that 1% of all users drive 20% of traffic and 20% of all users drive 80% of traffic.

What next? The agency isn't sure yet, though the FCC concludes that "subsidy mechanisms must also be considered as a means to universal adoption, but current mechanisms, such as Universal Service and stimulus grants, are insufficient to achieve national purposes." The tough decisions have yet to come, like whether the FCC should advocate for a national government-owned broadband network.

"I trust that people will respect the content of our Commission meeting update today, but if nothing else, they�ll have to respect our pretty slides," says the FCC in blog post number 41.