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In a Long Overdue Move, FCC Redefines 'Broadband'

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In a Long Overdue Move, FCC Redefines 'Broadband'

 
February 04, 2015

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  By Tara Seals, TMCnet Contributor
 


The Federal Communications Commission has voted to change the definition of U.S. broadband to a download speed of 25Mbps — a significant, six-time increase from the previous standard of 4Mbps.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (News - Alert) called the move "table stakes” to support the modern digital economy. Considering that bandwidth limitations continue to constrict the adoption of services like two-way video calling and conferencing, along with UltraHD entertainment streaming and other advanced services, there’s a good argument to be made in his favor.


Yet it will require big investment on the part of ISPs to fulfill the mandate of delivering broadband everywhere at that level of definition, because as a nation the U.S. is not up to snuff. Akamai’s recent State of the Internet report pegged the U.S. as 14th in the world for combined wireline and wireless broadband speed, averaging just 11.4Mbps.

Obviously, that’s an average, and the wired-only picture actually looks much better in aggregate. Ookla’s (News - Alert) Net Index lists the global average as 22.04Mbps, with the average download speed in the U.S. as a healthy 32.83Mbps, placing the country at 25 out of 197 ranked nations.

But let’s drill down: That number is thanks to a handful of providers. Comcast is the ISP leader in the index, with a 42Mbps average download speed, followed by Verizon FiOS (41.24Mbps), Cox (41.09Mbps), Charter Communications (40.45Mbps), Time Warner (News - Alert) Cable (39.78Mbps), Optimum Online (36.93Mbps), Mediacom Cable (36.13Mbps), Suddenlink Communications (31.66Mbps) and Cable One (28.71Mbps). The rest are below the 25Mbps threshold.

The results also vary wildly. Kansas City, Mo. and Austin, Texas, are the fastest cities in the U.S., thanks to a 1Gbps race between Google (News - Alert) Fiber and incumbents in those towns. KC boasts a whopping 101.73 Mbps, with Austin clocking in at 67.57Mbps.

But rural and underserved areas aren’t so lucky. According to the FCC’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report, 55 million Americans, or 17 percent of the United States population, are not able to access advanced broadband services.  And, about 20 percent of Americans living in rural areas still have access to speeds below 4Mbps.

Overall, ISPs have work to do, and money to spend, regardless of what the averages show. The FCC report also shows that 53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to 25Mbps or above services, along with 8 percent of urban Americans. 

Never ones to like being asked to spend money where there is little business case, members of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), expressed concerns, shall we say.

"We are troubled that the Commission majority has arbitrarily chosen a definition of broadband ... that ignores how millions of consumers currently access the Internet," it said. The definition "dramatically exaggerates the amount of bandwidth needed by the typical broadband user."

Consumer group Public Knowledge (News - Alert) said that the new definition is "long overdue,” especially given usage trends like the amount of video streaming happening across the land. It also pointed out the odd dichotomy between defending the 4Mbps threshold and ISP’s typical marketing spin. Kate Forscey, an Internet rights fellow at Public Knowledge, noted that "Those same companies spend an awful lot of time every single day telling consumers that the kind of speeds they want and need far surpass" the new definition.

 
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