FCC: Wireless Is Fastest-Growing Broadband Technology

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The FCC's latest Wireline Competition Bureau report on High-Speed Services for Internet Access as of Dec. 31, 2007 shows more mobile wireless high-speed lines (50,977,914) than ADSL (29,451,719) or cable modem lines (36,497,284).

The 2004 report didn't mention any mobile wireless high-speed lines. They were first listed in the 2005 report with 3,127,670 “lines.” The number of mobile wireless lines more than doubled in the last year of the study while ADSL and cable modem lines increased approximately 20 percent in the same period.

Satellite high-speed lines increased from 426,928 in 2005 to 791,142 in 2007. Fixed wireless grew from 257,431 lines in 2005 to 705,014 in 2007.

The FCC defines “high-speed lines” as lines with over 200 kbps in at least one direction. The report includes tables showing information transfer rates for the different services, although some mobile wireless, satellite and power line and other services had some data “withheld to maintain firm confidentiality.”

Doug Lung
Doug Lung
Contributor

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.