FCC Asked to Find Broadband Deployment Isn't 'Reasonable and Timely'
Disagreements surfaced in replies in the annual Communications Act Section 706 proceeding on whether broadband is now being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner, with a majority urging the FCC to back away from the conclusion, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, FCC Democrats also said the agency was wrong to draw that positive finding, given current deployment levels (see 2004240042). Replies were posted Tuesday in docket 20-269.
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“This pandemic has demonstrated that we need to reach 100% of our population with broadband,” emailed Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: “That’s a big task. While I’m afraid our framework in this docket is not up for it, I’m hopeful that the record pushes us to develop bolder goals, higher speeds, and policies to reach everyone, everywhere.”
“Every commenter" has "reflected on how" COVID-19 "highlighted the importance and necessity of high speed broadband,” said New America’s Open Technology Institute and Access Now. Despite that, industry concluded “broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner,” they said: “It is well known that the Commission’s data overstates deployment through the country.” The groups cited evidence that more than 77 million people in the U.S. lack an adequate home internet connection, “far greater than the number of people living in an area with no fixed terrestrial broadband services at the FCC’s” 25 Mbps threshold.
People gave examples of why broadband is important in their communities. Gavin Turner, a clinical researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who tutors a fourth grader in Baltimore, said that student didn’t have broadband at home until his family got Wi-Fi, but it often cuts out. “Set the minimum broadband speed goal to at least 100 Mbps so that students, like this individual, can have reliable access to their education and adapt to the new challenges that we all face due to this pandemic and adapt to the future in which wifi is a necessity,” Turner said.
Zeke Cohen, chairman of the Baltimore City Council Education and Youth Committee, had “heard from students across our city” that 25/3 Mbps is “completely inadequate” for home learning. All public schools there are virtual, Cohen said: “If kids can’t access programs like Zoom and Google Classroom at a reasonable speed, they can’t learn," meaning they "are being denied their right to an education.” The Communications Workers of America said recent broadband reports incorrectly conclude deployment is reasonable and timely. “Broadband use and adoption continues to be far below the universal access to which we should aspire,” CWA said.
“The record in this proceeding clearly reflects a consensus that current speed benchmarks are inadequate to meet the needs of modern households, especially in light of increased telework and distance learning, which have introduced new concerns, particularly for multiple users connected to a single network,” said Common Cause, Next Century Cities and Public Knowledge. Increase benchmarks speeds to 100 Mbps asymmetrical, “a standard that is warranted and reasonable given speeds already available to many Americans,” the groups said.
Retain the current 25/3 Mbps standard for fixed broadband and “continue to measure progress at multiple speed tiers for fixed and mobile broadband,” USTelecom advised. “While there are limitations to the Form 477 data, the Commission should also continue use of its deployment data until more comprehensive data is available via the Commission’s active Digital Opportunity Data Collection proceeding.”
“There is strong support in the record for maintaining the Commission’s current evaluation of fixed and mobile broadband services as distinct categories that are not substitutes for each other,” the Wireless ISP Association said. 5G is no substitute for fixed wireless offered by its members, WISPA said: “5G is a nascent technology with low consumer acceptance at this time, and substitution is at best unproven.”