On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised the benchmark for what it defines as broadband when it concerns how many Americans have access to high-speed Internet connections. The new definition states that, in order to be classified as broadband, an Internet connection must provide speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) and 3 Mbps for download and upload connections respectively. This is more than six times faster than the old definition of 4 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed; last revised in 2010.

According to the FCC the revised definition reflects advances in technology, market offerings by broadband providers and consumer demand.

Passed by three votes to two, the move, proposed earlier this month by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, comes as no surprise.  Under mandate from Congress, the FCC is charged with determining whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.  The latest report from the FCC (PDF download link) found that this is not the case, especially in rural areas, on Tribal lands and in U.S. territories.

A 2014 “State of the Internet” report by networking company Akamai Technologies shows that the U.S. ranks 14^th worldwide for broadband speed, with an average connection speed of 11.4 Mbps.

Based on the revised minimum speed requirement for broadband, the FCC found the following:

• 17 percent of all Americans (55 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.
• 53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps.
• 63 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands (2.5 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband.
• 63 percent of Americans living in U.S. territories (2.6 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband.
• Approximately 35 percent of schools lack access to fiber, and thus likely lack access to broadband at the Commission’s shorter term benchmark (adopted in its July 2014 E-rate Modernization Order) of 100 Mbps per 1,000 users, and even fewer have access at the long term goal of 1 Gbps per 1,000 users.

Not everyone has welcomed the move by the FCC. “Instead of an accurate assessment of America’s broadband marketplace and the needs and uses of consumers, the FCC action is industrial policy that is not faithful to Congress’ direction in Section 706 [of the Telecommunications Act of 1996] to assess the market, but a clear effort to justify and expand the bounds of the FCC’s own authority,” the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said in response.

It remains to be seen whether the FCC ruling will have any effect on actual Internet speeds being delivered in the near future, since the revised definition has no regulatory effect on offerings from service providers.

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