Federal law requires the Commission to annually review whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. As a part of its duty to meet this requirement, the Commission recently released its Tenth Broadband Progress Notice of Inquiry (NOI). In particular, the NOI seeks comment on: (1) the benchmarks the Commission should use to define “advanced telecommunications capability;” (2) whether the Commission should establish separate benchmarks for fixed and mobile services; (3) on which data the Commission should rely on in measuring broadband; and (4) whether and how the Commission should take into account differences in broadband deployment (e.g., differences between urban areas, non-urban areas, and Tribal areas). In addition, the Commission seeks comment on whether it should modify the 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload speed benchmark and whether it should consider latency and data usage allowances as additional core advanced telecommunications capability characteristics. Comments are due September 4, 2014, and replies are due September 19, 2014.
For additional information, please contact Erin Fitzgerald.
