FCC raises threshold for high-speed internet as service providers cry foul
FCC raises threshold for high-speed internet as service
providers cry foul
New benchmark means 55 million Americans currently lack
broadband access after chairman derides internet companies’ advertisement
claims
By Amanda Holpuch in Washington
Thursday 29 January 2015 14.29 EST
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday changed
the definition of broadband to increase the threshold speed – a move that has
already angered cable companies.
In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that
increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more
power to force internet service providers to improve their service.
The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4
megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for
uploads.
With that speed as the benchmark, significantly fewer
Americans have access to high-speed broadband. Under the previous definition,
19 million Americans were without access; the new definition means that 55
million Americans – 17% of the population – now do not have access to
high-speed broadband, according to the FCC’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report,
which is in the final editing process but was cited at the hearing.
Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC is
responsible for ensuring that broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in
a reasonable and timely fashion”.
The FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, had repeatedly expressed
support for the proposal ahead of the vote. In his remarks at the vote meeting,
he was critical of telecommunications companies including Verizon, Comcast and
AT&T. He said these companies’ statements to the commission differ wildly
from what they tell consumers – part of his testimony included an incredulous
reading of advertisements promoting the company’s seemingly fast broadband
speeds.
“Our challenge is not to hide behind self-serving
lobbying statements, but to recognize reality,” said Wheeler. “And our
challenge is to help make that reality available to all.”
The cable industry’s largest lobby group, the National
Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), said in a statement that
changing the definition is an attempt by the FCC to expand its ability to
regulate industry:
“While cable network internet speeds already meet and
exceed the FCC’s new broadband description, we are troubled that the Commission
majority has arbitrarily chosen a definition of broadband in its Section 706
report that ignores how millions of consumers currently access the Internet.
Instead of an accurate assessment of America’s broadband marketplace and the
needs and uses of consumers, the FCC action is industrial policy that is not
faithful to Congress’s direction in Section 706 to assess the market, but a
clear effort to justify and expand the bounds of the FCC’s own authority.”
US broadband speeds clock in as the 25th fastest in the
world, according to analyst Ookla’s Net Index. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan
top the list. Countries including Finland, France and the Netherlands boast of
higher speeds than the US.
FCC commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn
voted in support of the definition change. “What is crystal clear to me is that
the broadband speeds of yesterday are woefully inadequate today and beyond,”
said Clyburn.
She said that this change would improve broadband access,
which she believes is an important step to help people gain educational and
economic parity.
Two commissioners, Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly,
dissented from the proposal.
O’Rielly said he supports expanding broadband access but
that the report relies on “intentionally flawed analysis”. He said that
increasing the definition does not resolve broadband access because it does not
include a plan to promote deployment in the areas lacking it.
“Selecting an artificially high standard and applying it
in a way that is impossible to meet in order to reach all Americans certainly in
the near term makes a mockery of a process that was supposed to provide an
honest assessment of broadband deployment in the United States,” said O’Rielly.
Wheeler responded to their statements by chuckling
quietly, then accusing them of spinning the facts to pursue their own agenda.
The FCC will vote on net neutrality rules next month.
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