FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has recently circulated a proposed Notice of Inquiry calling for an increase in the national standard for minimum broadband speeds, as well as a establishing a long term goal for broadband speed.
She called the current 25/3 not just behind the times, but harmful to low income neighborhoods and rural communities which are left behind and offline
Her proposed NOI calls for an immediate increase in the national broadband standard to 100/20 and she noted that the current 25/3 standard dates back to 2015 and has not been updated since. Amongst other problems, this standard fails to meet the requirement of new networks funded by the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
The NOI proposes a future increase in the national standard to 1 Gbps/500 Mbps. The chairwoman also called for affordability, adoption, availability, and equitability as part of the process for determining whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner.
These appear to be lofty but reasonable goals for underserved and unserved areas of our nation.
