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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Tech News > FCC redefines broadband speeds as 25Mbps downloads, 3Mbps uploads

FCC redefines broadband speeds as 25Mbps downloads, 3Mbps uploads
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NewsPoster
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Jan 29, 2015, 03:50 PM
 
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has changed its definition of broadband, after commissioners voted 3-2 in favor. The previous definition of 4Mbps download, 1Mbps upload minimum speeds have been increased to 25Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, a move which pushes higher the proportion of households in the United States declared to be incapable of receiving broadband Internet access.

Under the old definition, only 6.3 percent of homes had access to broadband. The FCC now claims that 17 percent of the US population now cannot access a broadband connection based on the new terms. While only eight percent of people in urban areas lack broadband availability, this rises to 53 percent for rural citizens. To put this in perspective, 20 percent of people in rural areas lacked broadband under the old speeds, with 31 percent failing to receive the 10Mbps down, 1Mbps up speeds required for rural carriers wanting access to subsidies.

FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler
FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler


"When 80 percent of Americans can access 25-3, that's a standard. We have a problem that 20 percent can't. We have a responsibility to that 20 percent," said Commissioner Tom Wheeler, reports The Verge. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn added "As customers adopt and demand more from their platforms and devices, the need for broadband will increase, requiring robust networks to be in place in order to keep up. What is crystal clear to me is that the broadband speeds of yesteryear are woefully inadequate today and beyond."

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel suggests the US should aim considerably higher than 25Mbps. "We invented the Internet. We can do audacious things if we set big goals, and I think our new threshold, frankly, should be 100Mbps. I think anything short of that shortchanges our children, our future, and our new digital economy."

Despite the praise, some are criticizing the change of definition. Commissioner Michael O'Rielly claims "4K TV requires 25Mbps, but 4K TV is still relatively new and is not expected to be widely adopted for years to come. While the statute directs us to look at advanced capability, this stretches the concept to an untenable extreme." O'Rielly goes on to jokingly suggest that the estimated bandwidth for "interplanetary teleportation" should be taken into account.

Earlier this week, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) wrote to the FCC, asking it not to redefine broadband by the 25Mbps down, 3Mbps up speeds. A statement from the NCTA after the vote claims it is "troubled that the Commission majority has arbitrarily chosen a definition of broadband in its Section 706 report that ignores how millions of consumers currently access the Internet." The NCTA goes on to accuse the FCC of attempting to "expand the bounds" of its authority, rather than providing an "accurate assessment of America's broadband marketplace and the needs and uses of consumers."
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Jan 29, 2015 at 07:22 PM. )
     
jfgilbert
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Jan 29, 2015, 05:08 PM
 
This was the populist move to placate the customers of the big ISPs. This does not cost the telcos a penny, even if AT&T complains about it. Next there will be a watered down neutrality ruling that will mollify the people who do not understand the problem, and still not cost the Telcos much. For example, fast lanes are OK, but the FCC has to review them. Right, so it's going to cost them a nice lunch and perhaps a golf outing. Finally, the real issue of competition on the last mile, the promised fiber infrastructure, and the back room oligopoly deals are going to be swept under the rug, and Wheeler will get his comfy retirement with Comcast/TW.
But we should be happy, the FCC is finally taking bold action to defend the customers, right?
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Jan 29, 2015, 05:59 PM
 
Perks for the telcos get paid if a certain percentage of the served area get broadband-class speeds. Also, undeserved areas stimulus funding only gets paid out of the minimum speeds are met.

Clearly, there's much more distance to go, but to call this meaningless isn't accurate.
     
efithian
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Jan 29, 2015, 06:08 PM
 
I am one of the few customers in my area to get the required minimum speeds. Mine is 35Mbps down, 5 Mbps up. For $65/month in the Lehigh Valley. In the evening it is down to 10Mbps.
     
bjojade
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Jan 29, 2015, 06:28 PM
 
When 8 percent of Americans can access 25-3, that's a standard. We have a problem that 20 percent can't. We have a responsibility to that 2 percent," said Commissioner Tom Wheeler, reports The Verge.

Wow, that set of numbers is maddeningly incorrect. Either a misquote or someone really, really bad at math...
     
FastiBook
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Jan 29, 2015, 07:20 PM
 
FIOS needs expanded footprint and higher entry tiers.
Fact is better than fiction.
     
prl99
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Jan 29, 2015, 07:22 PM
 
AT&T, as well as other DSL deliverers, will continue to complain because it's still very difficult to deliver a consistent DSL speed over 25Mbps. Century Link's claimed 40Mbps DSL uses a C100A ADSL/VDSL modem which continues to use the old 2-wire telephone cable. Even in a new house, a family member only gets ~25Mbps, which doesn't surprise me because of the inferior cable and cable connection (punch down block) still used by telephone companies. Frontier only sells 6Mbps no-longer-high-speed-internet in my town and I wonder when they will be forced to change their advertisements because it no longer is considered comparable to broadband speeds.
     
Malcolm Owen
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Jan 29, 2015, 07:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by bjojade View Post
Wow, that set of numbers is maddeningly incorrect. Either a misquote or someone really, really bad at math...
It's a misquote. My keyboard started hating the 0 key today, and I didn't pick up on it being faulty until after the post went live. Apologies, and it has been corrected.
The keyboard will be punished in time...
     
Grendelmon
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Jan 30, 2015, 11:26 AM
 
So, are ISPs going to change the verbiage on their websites for potential customers seeking "broadband" access now?
     
Steve Wilkinson
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Jan 30, 2015, 12:44 PM
 
It's a start. While speeds *should* be far higher than this, at least now the 'broadband' definition is at the low end of reality. Sadly, a LOT of people have nowhere near 3 Mbps up (which is becoming way more important with cloud services). 25 Mbps down isn't great, but again, at the low end of 'broadband.'

Now, we need some changes to get competition to get the pricing down. I'm happy I can buy pretty fast Internet, but the pricing is kind of crazy (I'm in Canada and we're talking ~90/mo for 60/5 or 50/10, cable or DSL). People I know in the US often pay $60/mo for plans with only 1 Mbps up. A simple 25/3 like we're talking here should be $20/mo with faster speeds (where is the 50/50 we were promised and paid for?) being maybe $40-50/mo.
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Makosuke
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Jan 30, 2015, 04:14 PM
 
Someone at a high level complaining that US internet speeds are largely stuck at the levels of a decade ago while the rest of the industrialized world cruises along at 100Mbit-1Gbit speeds? You sure this article is about the United States?

I thought that the free market that has given us regional near-monopolies in the broadband industry was an ideal system that provided fantastic service to everyone at budget prices...

Also: I'm in that segment of US consumers that still can't get 25Mbit speed at any price despite living in the middle of town in a semi-rural city with two actual competing providers (AT&T and Suddenlink, plus a bunch of AT&T DSL resellers, all limited to AT&T's older, slower speeds). Compare this to some relatives in a much smaller town in rural Japan who can get gigabit fiber to the home for not much more than I'm paying.

Yeah, "can't get more than 18Mbit broadband" is very much a first world problem, but we're still way behind most other first world countries and paying more for the privilege. It's an embarrassment.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Jan 30, 2015, 05:09 PM
 
Note that this is little more than a redefinition of what the term "broadband" means -- it does not force ISPs to invest in their infrastructure, it does not force ISPs to offer a minimum tier of service, and it does not change the products that the ISPs are currently selling.

The most it will do, at this point in time, is force ISPs who advertise internet connections falling short of the 25/3 to change their websites and label those plans something like "high-speed" instead of "broadband."
     
   
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