(MCT) WASHINGTON — While the overarching goals of the national broadband plan released Monday will be difficult for anyone to oppose — extending high-speed Internet to virtually all Americans and dramatically boosting its speed — getting there will be neither quick nor easy.

Buried in the details of the 360-page report by the Federal Communications Commission are a host of political and policy battles that may take years to play out: between TV broadcasters and broadband providers over valuable rights to wireless spectrum; between phone companies and regulators looking to redirect billions of dollars from a fund now used to subsidize rural phone service; and among businesses, politicians and the FCC over the reach of any new government regulations.

Within a decade, the plan envisions extending high-speed Internet to the 93 million Americans who lack it at home, and to boost broadband download speeds to 100 megabits per second for 100 million households — about 20 times faster than typical speeds today. It aims to lower prices and improve service through policies that boost competition among broadband providers.

The plan, which officials said would pay for itself through the sale of wireless spectrum, would spend $6.5 billion on a new public safety broadband network dedicated to emergency first responders. And at least one building in every community, such as a school or a government building, would have a super-fast Internet connection with speeds of at least 1 gigabit per second.

There is widespread agreement that the United States is lagging behind many international competitors in broadband access. One key study ranks the country 15th in the proportion of people who have broadband, and not much better in Internet speed.

Experts say it will take the leadership of President Barack Obama, along with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and members of Congress and the private sector, to keep the country from falling even further behind.

If officials deliver on the plan’s promise, “we will be in a great position to fix what’s gone awry with broadband in America,” said Sascha Meinrath, director of the New American Foundation think tank’s Open Technology Initiative. “My fear is that we’ll get bogged down in an endless series of processes, debates and data collection that leaves us falling further and further behind.”

One of the key flash points is likely to be over highly sought-after wireless radio waves. To feed the explosion of smart phones, netbooks and other wireless devices, over the next decade the FCC wants to reallocate 500 megahertz of spectrum now used by TV stations, government and others. The FCC’s thinking is that more spectrum for wireless will foster faster wireless, invite competition with wired broadband service and lower prices.

But those that hold wireless spectrum aren’t about to give it up easily.

As a starting point, the FCC wants to entice broadcasters to relinquish 120 megahertz of spectrum voluntarily by sharing with them the proceeds from auctioned spectrum. But if those carrots fail, the plan hints that regulators could resort to sticks. One idea is to impose new fees on broadcasters and others that possess spectrum, giving them a disincentive to hold on to underutilized radio waves.

The National Association of Broadcasters said in a statement it is concerned that “many aspects of the plan may in fact not be as voluntary as originally promised.”

The FCC also proposes to shift billions of dollars in the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service in rural areas, to bring broadband to those who don’t have it. But telephone companies are unlikely to accept such a change easily.

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Other, less obvious battles are in store. The FCC, for example, wants to revamp the market for set-top boxes that people use to access cable and satellite TV programming. The idea is to enable consumers to access the Web through their cable or satellite subscription and to allow consumers to use their set-top box with any provider, rather than having to rent a new box if they switch service.

But firms such as Cisco Systems have their own plans for set-top boxes, said Dean Garfield, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose group represents Cisco.

“Certainly there will be parts of the plan that we don’t love,” Garfield said. “But rather than focusing on that, we think this is the start of what should be a constructive conversation. It’s incumbent upon all of us to take this road map and figure out how to make it a reality.”

While parts of the plan can be enacted unilaterally by the executive branch and the FCC, other components will take the cooperation of Congress.

“Certainly there will be a lot of fights over the details,” said Edward Black, president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, who was strongly supportive of the plan. “You never underestimate the ability of special interests in this town to make things difficult.”

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