WASHINGTON, D.C.—As part of a wide inquiry into the state of broadband services in the U.S., FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel has announced that she is proposing a goal of achieving 100% nationwide access to affordable broadband and that the standard for broadband speeds be increased.
The goal is part of an updated Notice of Inquiry that would kick off the agency’s evaluation of the state of broadband across the country, as required by Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act.
In the Notice of Inquiry that Rosenworcel said she had distributed to colleagues, she proposes that the Commission consider several crucial characteristics of broadband deployment, including affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access, when determining whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion to “all Americans,” the FCC said.
“In today’s world, everyone needs access to affordable, high-speed internet, no exceptions,” said Rosenworcel in a statement. “It’s time to connect everyone, everywhere. Anything short of 100% is just not good enough.”
In addition to focusing on a universal service standard, the Notice of Inquiry proposes to increase minimum broadband speeds. Under the proposal the national fixed broadband standard would be increased to 100 megabits per second for download and 20 megabits per second for upload.
The FCC previously set the broadband standard at 25/3 Mbps in 2015 and has not updated it since.
The Notice of Inquiry proposes to set a separate national goal of 1 Gbps/500 Mbps for the future.
