WASHINGTON -- Declaring expansion of broadband Internet access the nation's next great infrastructure challenge, federal regulators on Monday unveiled an ambitious, decade-long strategy to make super high-speed connections available in every corner of the country.

The plan by the Federal Communications Commission sets a goal of making sure at least 100 million homes have affordable access to networks that allow them to download data from the Internet at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second -- at least 20 times faster than what most people get today. The proposal, which will be sent to Congress, also seeks to put ultra-fast Internet access of 1 gigabit per second in public facilities such as schools, hospitals and government buildings in every community.

The goal is to transform the nation's Internet infrastructure and make high-speed access affordable to everyone, the FCC said. The agency proposes to use wireless connections as a cheaper and quicker alternative to laying wires or fiber-optic cables to unserved areas. One of the plan's main objectives, it said, is to make the United States home to "the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation."

The plan, which for the most part the FCC would implement, is expected to face opposition from broadcasters, who fear that they would be forced to give up some of their airwaves. Telecommunications companies and some Republicans in Congress also are concerned about possible new regulations that, they warn, could stifle investment in expanding broadband networks.

Although the FCC made paper copies of the 356-page plan available to reporters Monday, it will not be publicly released until today, so interest groups and analysts were unable to comment on details Monday. They stressed that those details were crucial.

Still, consumer and public-interest groups praised the commission for taking on the challenge of spurring expansion of affordable high-speed Internet after years of waiting for private firms to do it.

"It's exciting that we have national attention on putting together a broadband plan, after this issue had been dropped from the federal agenda for a number of years," said public administration professor Karen Mossberger at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who studies U.S. broadband availability. "To date, just leaving things up to the market has not produced affordable broadband," she said, noting that Internet access in the United States is more expensive than in at least a dozen other developed nations.

Another key component of the plan is creating a new wireless network for police, firefighters and other public safety workers, so they can communicate and share data and video between departments during major emergencies. Lawmakers and public safety organizations have pushed for such a network since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when first responders at the World Trade Center had trouble communicating.

In 2008, the FCC tried to lure private firms to help build such a network by offering cheap access to public airwaves, but the effort failed. The FCC has recommended that Congress authorize $12 billion to $16 billion to create the network. That would be the largest allocation of money under the broadband strategy.

There is no price tag for the overall plan because Congress could decide to accelerate parts of it. FCC officials said the plan is designed to pay for itself through existing revenue streams, such as fees already charged to telecommunications firms to spread service to rural areas. Combining that funding and money for a public safety network would put the overall plan's decade-long cost in the tens of billions of dollars.

The FCC, which spent a year studying the issue, said the federal government needs to do more to assure that high-speed networks reach all Americans, letting them tap into the information economy and take advantage of advancements to come, such as electronic health records.

Tapping into the wireless airwaves is a key part of the FCC's plan. It wants to reallocate a huge chunk of radio-frequency spectrum to use for high-speed Internet service, regarded as a much cheaper and quicker way of spreading broadband service than laying fiber cables -- particularly in rural areas.

But that spectrum is assigned to TV and radio broadcasters, who are expected to strongly oppose any proposal to take it away, even if the FCC would share money with them from auctioning off use of those airwaves to telecommunications firms.

"We were pleased by initial indications from FCC members that any spectrum reallocation would be voluntary, and were therefore prepared to move forward in a constructive fashion on that basis," said National Association of Broadcasters Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton. "However, we are concerned by reports ... that suggest many aspects of the plan may, in fact, not be as voluntary as originally promised.

Telecommunications industry trade group USTelecom, which represents companies including Verizon and AT&T, said it applauded the plan goals and commended the FCC for what it perceived as the plan's focus on lowering costs and expanding access through market competition, rather than regulation.

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.