Rosenworcel Alarmed FCC May Reduce Broadband Benchmark; Is 10/1 Mbps Mobile Enough?
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel objected to a possible lower broadband benchmark through the commission's review of advanced telecom capability (ATC) deployment. "#FCC proposing to lower US #broadband standard from 25 to 10 Mbps. This is crazy. Lowering standards doesn't solve our broadband problems," she tweeted Wednesday. An aide said Rosenworcel is "connecting the dots" of what she feels the FCC is proposing in its inquiry into whether broadband-like ATC is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely way pursuant to a Telecom Act Section 706 mandate. Initial comments on a notice of inquiry are due Thursday.
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“Commissioner Rosenworcel doesn’t have her facts right," emailed a spokeswoman for Chairman Ajit Pai. "The Notice of Inquiry doesn’t include any such proposal. Rather, it only seeks comment on a number of alternative approaches for how to incorporate the availability of mobile services in the Commission’s evaluation of broadband deployment.”
The NOI proposed to keep a 25 Mbps benchmark for fixed ATC, but it sought comment on other possible benchmarks, including 10 Mbps for mobile ATC; and it asked if mobile service might be a separate way to achieve ATC: "[W]e seek comment on focusing this Section 706 Inquiry on whether some form of advanced telecommunications capability, be it fixed or mobile, is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion." It also asked whether the agency "should evaluate deployment based on the presence of both fixed and mobile services."
The agency is effectively considering lowering the broadband benchmark by "seeking comment on whether a mobile ATC 10/1 benchmark would suffice" to satisfy the 706 mandate, said the Rosenworcel aide. "Commissioner Rosenworcel years ago proposed setting 100 Mbps as the standard. We should be setting goals that are higher, not lower."
"We sell consumers short by proposing a speed benchmark that is way too low," said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in an August NOI statement (see 1708080070). Some parties say the NOI signaled interest in viewing mobile broadband as a substitute for fixed service, which analysts say would have implications for merger and acquisition reviews and other matters (see 1708110034).
The FCC should "recognize the significant investments satellite providers have made -- and continue to make -- to expand the availability of advanced telecommunications capability that meet or exceed the Commission’s benchmark," commented the Satellite Industry Association Wednesday in docket 17-199. It cited recent satellite launches of Hughes Network Systems and ViaSat as expanding capacity. "In many respects, satellite networks can scale more quickly and efficiently than terrestrial networks," SIA said. "Networks that may be 'capacity-rich' (including fiber-to-the-node) can experience significant congestion issues and ‘bottlenecks’ that can limit the speed and other consumer quality criteria."
"Fixed broadband is particularly important in bridging the digital divide that separates highly developed urban areas from many rural areas," commented the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Sept. 7, the deadline before the FCC extended it two weeks. "The fixed broadband transmission speed benchmark should be forward-looking, based on current deployments of higher capacity broadband networks and technologies being rolled out by major services providers and new entrants, principally in urban areas." The Colorado State Broadband Office also commented Sept. 7: "The commission should focus its investment on infrastructure that will support future technologies that can scale to the rapidly increasing demands without further public investment. In order to meet the long-term needs of rural communities we need infrastructure that will allow for new and emerging technologies to capitalize on."