The FCC adopted its annual assessment of whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion across the U.S. on Thursday. As part of that report, Commissioners raised the agency’s benchmark for high-speed fixed broadband to download speeds of 100/20 Mbps – a four-fold increase from the 25/3 Mbps benchmark set by the Commission in 2015.
But getting there was not easy. The three Democrats voted for the item, while the two Republicans dissented.
Commissioner Brendan Carr said the report uses old data. In the three years since the agency’s last broadband assessment, he said broadband providers have made “impressive strides,” noting that wireline providers are “aggressively rolling out fiber-optic networks with gigabit speeds. 5G networks stretch from coast-to-coast” and “fixed wireless has become a competitive mainstay.”
“The FCC’s reliance on stale data undermines entirely the agency’s conclusions,” about broadband deployment and availability, Carr said.
Though fellow Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington praised the effort in the report to “consider what can be done to drive down latency,” he agreed with Carr, and lamented the “glaring” exclusion of satellite-to-cell technology. Using SpaceX’s Starlink service as an example, he said it’s available in all 50 states and offers low latency and high speeds, especially in rural areas.
“We are only at the dawn of the broadband industry and competitors are still emerging,” said Simington. “If we give Starlink and its forthcoming competitors permission for more launches and allow them to compete for universal service on equal footing with [other] providers I’ve no doubt they could easily offer low latency service in every household that does not already have it.”
Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez noted that, for the first time, the FCC assesses 5G mobile coverage data for speeds of at least 35/3, and updates the short-term goal for school and classroom broadband access. Both Starks and Gomez made impassioned pleas to Congress to continue to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program, which has stopped enrollments and is due to end soon.
“The lack of an affordability program also risks harming the biggest investment the country has ever made in broadband infrastructure deployment, the BEAD,” said Starks. “Without ACP, BEAD’s $42.5 billion to deploy broadband networks to reach millions of unserved and underserved communities, primarily in rural communities, will not reach as far as it could.”
Recalling when he spoke with one ACP recipient, Starks said, “When we discussed the potential end of the program, she asked me, “what am I going to have to give up to keep what you’ve put in my life? Maybe eat less food?”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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