ITIF to FCC: Base the Definition of Broadband on Reality, Not Fantasy
WASHINGTON (Jan. 29, 2015) – Commenting on the Federal Communications Commission’s forthcoming Broadband Progress report, which reportedly will set the definition of broadband at 25 Mbps, Doug Brake, Telecom Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), today issued the following statement:
By changing the definition of broadband from the current speed of 4 Mbps to an astounding 25 Mbps, Chairman Wheeler seems intent on taking a giant leap for mankind when what we need is a measured step. No nation on earth would qualify under a 25 Mbps standard, not even South Korea, which has the world’s fastest connections today.
Twenty-five is an arbitrary number that isn’t based on rigorous analysis. It appears designed to exclude a number of competitors, ensuring a finding of little competition that will trigger the Commission’s authority to regulate broadband providers under its freshly expanded section 706 jurisdiction. As ITIF argued in its 2013 report on where America’s broadband networks really stand, policymakers should neither abdicate their responsibility to encourage deployment of better technology nor over-regulate. They should instead facilitate continued progress in a competitive marketplace.
It makes sense to revisit our expectations around broadband deployment from time to time, but those evaluations should be based on solid analysis of what throughput is necessary for various applications and consumer expectations, not wishful thinking that ignores marketplace realities. The Commission’s claim for the need of 25 Mbps is that multiple high-definition streams in a single home cannot be supported with less. Beyond the fact that our competition policy should not be driven by the edge case of most intensive use possible, even these facts do not well support a 25 Mbps definition.
Is faster broadband better? Absolutely. But our federal competition policy should be grounded in realistic needs, not hypothetical edge cases.
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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Recognized by its peers in the think tank community as the global center of excellence for science and technology policy, ITIF’s mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
