Today, the FCC released its 15th Broadband Deployment Report Notice of Inquiry, otherwise known as the Section 706 Notice of Inquiry. Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to determine annually “whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”
The following statement should be attributed to Gigi Sohn:
How can the FCC purport to determine whether broadband is “being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion” when it, and just about every other interested policymaker have declared that the data upon which the agency relies to make this determination is hopelessly flawed? The answer is that it can’t. But that won’t stop this FCC majority from prejudging the matter and deciding, against all reason, that “all” Americans have adequate access to broadband.
To add insult to injury, the FCC proposes to keep the definition of broadband at 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed. Now 5 years old, this definition is woefully out of date. For an agency that prides itself in being data driven, it is willfully turning a blind eye to the realities of broadband access, affordability, usage and speeds.
Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Foundation Senior Fellow & Public Advocate. She was Senior Counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013-December 2016. Gigi can be reached for comment at the above email or at 202-253-0876.