The current minimum measures for broadband are behind their time and even worse, it is harmful, the chairwoman of the US telecommunications sector regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, warned.
Jessica Rosenworcel, Joe Biden’s appointment The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wants to raise the US national standard for minimum broadband speeds and create a more ambitious long-term speed target.
Minimum download speed of 25 Mbps and upload speed of 3 Mbps (25/3) is was founded in 2015 under then-FCC chairman Tom Wheeler. Before that, the minimum was 4/1 Mbps. The minimum has not been raised under the Trump Administration’s FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
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Rosenworcel wants to raise the national minimum to 100/20 Mbps and has called the current minimum “harmful” for low-income and rural communities.
July 2021 report from the US Government Accountability Office found that the 25/3 Mbps minimum is “too slow to meet many small business speed needs”.
“Internet user demand has long outpaced the FCC’s 25/3 speed index, especially in a time when the global health pandemic has moved so much of life online.” Rosenworcel said in a press release.
“The 25/3 index is not only behind its time, but it’s also harmful because it hides the extent to which low-income rural neighborhoods and communities are being left behind and left offline. That’s why we need to raise the bar to the bare minimum of broadband speeds now and aim even higher for the future, because we need to set big goals if we’re to. I want people everywhere to have equal success in the 21st century,” she said.
Rosenworcel laid out the 100/20 Mbps plan in an Investigative Notice sent to FCC colleagues announcing that it would begin an annual review of the state of broadband across the United States.
The point is that the FCC panel usually consists of five seats that need to be voted on on questions, and currently, only four of them are filled: with two Democrats and two Republicans.
Rosenworcel also wants the FCC to establish a separate country of 1 Gbps / 500 Mbps for the future. She suggested that the FCC consider affordability, acceptance, availability, and equitable access as part of its determination about whether broadband is deployed in a reasonable and timely manner. time or not.
She said the Notice of Inquiry will discuss a range of evidence supporting the 100/20 Mbps national standard, “including requirements for new networks funded by the Infrastructure Investment Act and Job.”
Congress passed a bipartisan Infrastructure Agreement in November with $65 billion allocated to expand access to reliable high-speed internet for all Americans.
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But there are questions about whether the FCC can now implement the new minimum speed as the debate rages over network neutrality again. as reported by the Washington Post. Democrats generally support net neutrality while Republicans oppose it.
Since Biden’s administration began, the five-seat FCC panel has been at an impasse with two Democrats and two Republicans due to delays in nominating a fifth, which progress hopes is a win-win. Biden’s pick, Gigi Sohn, co-founder of the telecommunications advocacy group Public Knowledge.
