FCC Finally Speeds Up Broadband

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June 24th, 2008

The Federal Communications Commission has stopped dragging its feet, taking a step toward updating its antiquated definition of "broadband." Hitherto, the commission defined broadband as Internet speeds of about 200 kilobits per second. Kilobits? Do they still have those?

I've hemmed and hawed about this issue in the past. Finally, as Ars Technica reports, the FCC has rebooted its broadband notions. The commission announced a tiered definition of broadband, which still includes the 200 Kbps as "first generation data" services. I guess that's in case we get nostalgic for that slower era.

Here's how the FCC breaks it down:
  • "First Generation data:" 200 Kbps up to 768 Kbps
  • "Basic Broadband:" 768 Kbps to 1.5 megabits per second
  • 1.5 Mbps to to less than 3 Mbps
  • 3 Mbps to less than 6 Mbps
  • 6 Mbps to less than 10 Mbps
  • 10 Mbps to less than 25 Mbps
  • 25 Mbps to less than 100.0 Mbps
  • 100 Mbps and beyond
Well, look at that! The FCC even planned for a beyond. It's nice to see some forward thinking in a nation that ranks below many European and Asian countries in broadband. (Although, Verizon president and COO Denny Strigl pooh-poohed that notion at NXTcomm in Las Vegas last week when he said that the United States leads the world in broadband connections if not penetration.)

Broadband deployment could be a warm elixir in these cooling economic times by facilitating better communication and better commerce. Having a jumping off point of broadband service levels allows citizens, communities and service providers better understand the market demands.

Do you think the FCC's standards are suitable? Do these standards go far enough? How do you think this will affect the broadband market in the United States?

1 Comments

This is a major step forward, but what I have not seen is an explicit statement of what a ten year target ought to be (e.g. "In ten years, 90% of U.S. homes and businesses ought to have 100 mbps and beyond."

Virtually everyone is still at the "basic broadband" level, and by not defining targets, it leaves communities still uncertain about what is really needed for community and economic development.

June 25th, 2008 // By Andrew

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