Does the Federal Broadband Definition Reflect Real-World Need?

Does the federal definition of broadband reflect what Americans need today? The current definition, 25 Mbps download speed/3 Mbps upload speed, was set by the Federal Communications Commission, led by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in 2015. At the time, Chairman Wheeler noted that the previous standard, 4 Mbps/1 Mbps, had been established in 2010 and that “consumer behavior and the marketplace has changed.” Five years after the 2015 revision, life as Americans know it has changed. Joe Freddoso, chief operating officer of broadband consulting company Mighty River, believes there's to a need to redefine broadband again.  He said the 3 Mbps upload part of the definition seems especially behind the times, now that households are more likely to have multiple instances of two-way communication occurring at the same time. 

Scott Wallsten, president and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, studies what consumers are willing to pay for when it comes to broadband. He said whether someone needs service to surpass the 25/3 threshold remains an open question based on the individual. Wallsten’s research shows that consumers are generally willing to pay for a download speed of 50 Mbps. Beyond that, the willingness to pay decreases. Jonathan Chambers, a partner with Conexon, said the 25/3 definition represented what “the telephone industry told the federal government it was capable of delivering with digital subscriber line.” Chambers described the 25/3 threshold as more of a “negative definition,” given that technology, such as a fiber-optic network, can offer far greater speeds. He said 25/3 is too low of a bar for spending tax dollars. “It’s a bad choice for the government to keep buying substandard service,” Chambers said. “It’s the reason why rural America was unprepared for the COVID-19 crisis.”