FCC Eyes Including Mobile Broadband in Broadband Deployment Inquiry
The FCC would look at whether and how to include mobile services in its assessment of the pace at which high-speed broadband is being deployed, under a draft notice of inquiry circulating at the commission (see 1507200069), agency officials told us Thursday. The draft NOI would also propose to keep the FCC’s current 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) broadband data speed definition for fixed service, and ask numerous questions, including on the potential implications of commission determinations, they said. The FCC is statutorily required to release the notice for comment by Aug. 7 and issue a report by early February on its findings, a commission official said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Including mobile along with fixed service in its assessment would create another set of metrics for the FCC to consider in determining whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion,” as it's required to do under Section 706 of the 1996 Telecom Act. Depending on the specific metrics and how the FCC would evaluate them, adding mobile broadband to the assessment could either provide another potential lane or hurdle to an affirmative finding.
Under Section 706, if the FCC finds the pace of broadband (technically, “advanced telecom capability”) deployment is inadequate, it must “take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.” The agency’s last three reports have found broadband isn't being deployed adequately, and the commission this year cited the latest negative finding in its February broadband progress report to help justify net neutrality rules.
The draft NOI on circulation is consistent with the February report, an FCC official said. That report raised the fixed broadband definition from 4/1 to 25/3 Mbps and excluded mobile and satellite broadband from the overall determination because the commission wasn’t comfortable with market data reliability. But the FCC also said it believed the data reliability was improving, and it anticipated considering anew this time around whether to include mobile and satellite broadband in the assessment.
The FCC official said the draft NOI would propose to keep the 25/3 Mbps definition of fixed broadband and ask for further related information and comment, including on whether to include satellite broadband in the fixed assessment. He said the draft would also ask whether and how to incorporate a mobility standard into the FCC’s overall broadband evaluation because “we see great value in mobile.” Recognizing some mobile speed constraints, the draft would ask whether the appropriate benchmark for mobile broadband should be lower than the 25/3 Mbps fixed definition, he said. Another FCC official said the draft would flag various possible speeds, and while he wouldn't cite a range, the February report provided some analysis of the state of mobile service “at or above 10 Mbps/768 Kbps." The draft would also ask about mobile service consistency and latency issues, and seek comment on industry data usage restrictions and whether pricing is germane, the agency officials said. It also would ask questions about the potential implications of including mobile broadband in the overall assessment, they said without elaborating.
Verizon in January asked the FCC to consider the expanding range of broadband platforms in its Section 706 inquiry. “The previous report erred by discounting this important source of broadband connectivity that is being widely embraced by consumers, and, particularly with the widespread availability of 4G LTE, the Commission’s analysis should reflect the widespread deployment of these services,” the telco said in docket 14-126. NCTA President Michael Powell also recently criticized the commission for not considering wireless (i.e., mobile) broadband a competitor to wireline broadband. “They’re conveniently writing that service out,” he said (see 1506030034).
But in its February report, the FCC included language saying mobile broadband might have some limitations that would have to be assessed. “In the next Report, we will further explore how to incorporate mobile and satellite in our analysis given consumers want access to a high-speed service that is reliable, affordable, and of consistent quality,” it said. “But they also want broadband on the go. Consequently, fixed and mobile broadband might be complementary, rather than substitutes, and might warrant different speed and non-speed benchmarks.”
One FCC official said he was hopeful the NOI would be approved before the Aug. 6 meeting, but the draft could potentially be added to the agenda in order to force a vote.