FCC Claims "Reasonable and Timely" Broadband Deployment
On June 12, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission issued its Fifth Report examining the availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans, as required by §706 of the Telecommunications Act. The Report, as did the Fourth Report in 2004, finds that “advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”
According to the Fifth Report, the number of high-speed lines in the
FCC Expands Broadband Data Collection but Sidesteps Affordability Concerns.
While at first glance these numbers appear to moving in the right direction, the U.S. deployment rate among residential customers, the end user cost, and the “dollar per mbps” value all lag other countries. In his separate dissenting statement to the Report, Commissioner Michael J. Copps had the following insights:
The fact is that your country and mine has never had any cognizable national broadband strategy to get the job done. So while broadband deployment is better than when I came to the FCC — I would surely hope so! — and the Commission may separately issue a report today showing improvements in broadband deployment, we’ve been working with one hand tied behind our backs, inhibited by the Commission’s dependence on antiquated methodologies and less than rigorous analysis. I’m happy we’re starting to change our benchmarks, but, my goodness, how late it is!
Just consider the fact that our international competitors deploy 25, 50 and 100 mbps broadband speeds at fractions of what it costs here in the
Surely broadband has created many good new jobs in the
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein added in his separate statement:
Yes, more people have adopted broadband in recent years. But they have adopted broadband faster in other countries with which we compete. Just because a car speeds up doesn’t mean it wins the race, especially if other cars speed up faster. This report fails to admit that while we have improved, other countries have improved at a faster rate, so we are actually falling behind.
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The report unconvincingly attempts to dismiss the international broadband penetration rankings. The fact is the
As a result, it is more than just a little bit disingenuous to claim that “advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” Where is the national broadband strategy?