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Open Technology Institute Wants FCC to Raise Minimum Broadband Speed to 50Mbps

Phillip Dampier September 27, 2016 Broadband Speed, Consumer News, Public Policy & Gov't 4 Comments

50-20The Federal Communications Commission should redefine broadband as speeds of at least 50/20Mbps, according to the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute.

The advocacy group argues that the FCC’s current definition of 25/3Mbps is too slow to support the growth of high-bandwidth online applications including high-definition video, cloud computing, and online gaming.

“People use their connections for many reasons, and often multitask,” the group writes in a filing submitted to the FCC this month. “It is easy to see how multiple people with multiple devices engaging in multiple online activities on the same residential connection can quickly lead to buffering, slow load times, and frustration even with a 25/3 connection.”

In general, consumer groups want the FCC to push providers to offer faster speeds, particularly telephone companies still relying on ADSL, a technology that first became widely available in the 1990s. There are millions of consumers still reliant on DSL technology on copper wire phone networks that can only support speeds of 6Mbps or less. Many of those are Verizon and AT&T customers, particularly in suburban and rural areas bypassed by Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-verse. Almost no AT&T or Verizon ADSL customers come close to achieving the FCC’s current minimum definition of broadband: 25/3Mbps.

The OTI argues that it isn’t just the speed required by applications, it is also the number of concurrent connections. As emerging technology like the Internet of Things introduces new devices that will share a user’s home broadband connection, faster internet speeds may be needed.

“The general consensus around IoT is that, with potentially billions of new devices connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi or cellular signals, capacity will need to increase,” the organization writes.

But the OTI will have to contend with provider opposition to redefining broadband speeds upwards. The NCTA – the Internet and Television Association, the nation’s largest cable lobbying group, wants the current definition maintained by the FCC.

“The current benchmark accommodates the expected needs of even those households using an atypically large amount of bandwidth, accounting for multiple streams of bandwidth intensive applications like HD streaming video, in addition to web browsing, email, and other applications,” the NCTA wrote. “The Commission should reject the notion of adopting a future-oriented, ‘aspirational’ benchmark, which would be necessarily divorced from the realities of the marketplace.”

Many NCTA members already offer speeds in excess of 50Mbps, although many cable companies also cap their customers’ usage.

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Guest9987
Guest9987
7 years ago

Why not 65.536Mbps? That would make it 8192KB/s which is what the standard should be; any more or less is questionable so far. It’s not like 8.192MB/s is impossible or anything considering the rest of the world is ether using 0.1-1Gb/s or more for significantly less money. I don’t see any reason to increase prices for the same data. ISPs don’t create the data, therefore they should not be charging data. If they are charging as if they own it without the permission of copyright holders which is holding data hostage from their customers, let them fight it out in… Read more »

Lee
Lee
7 years ago

There are states that allow you to contract for electric and natural gas with companies other than the ones that own the gas pipelines and the electric lines. You pay for the transmission of the gas and electric through that equipment. Why is that any different for internet. There is equipment that uses electric to make that happen and the ISP pays for that. They also have to maintain and replace equipment. It is reasonable that you pay for data transmission. The question is are they charging a reasonable rate for that. It looks like they are wanting to charge… Read more »

lightning
lightning
7 years ago

I believe this is necessary because the demand of computing continues to grow every single nano-second. In areas where my 100% immediate family members in these areas are able to accept Windows 8.x in these areas, I think this is a good idea because parents will be forced to provide kids fastest internet in USA. The number of devices is exploding every single day and the growth cannot stop. That’s why I declared internet as a basic need and to deal with computing congestion. This is why in 2017, I plan to only tolerate more powerful internet than before which… Read more »

hanna
5 years ago

Internet is basic need now adays. As technology becoming higher the number of devices introducing day by day.There are alot of cable connection in usa as spectrum cable internet giving one of best connection in 41 states.if you want any query just check it https://mycableinternet.com/

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