Members of Congress seek flexibility in FCC's rural broadband requirements

Over 40 members of Congress have asked the Federal Communications Commission to give service providers the flexibility they need to deploy high-speed broadband connections to more hard-to-reach communities under the upcoming Connect America Funding II (CAF II) program.

The call for action was a bipartisan effort that included members of both the Republican and Democratic parties -- including eight US Senators representing 18 states in rural and urban areas. One of the key issues amongst lawmakers and potential beneficiaries of the CAF II program funds is the FCC's proposal to change the threshold of what is broadband from 4 to 10 Mbps. These groups, while seeing the utility in 10 Mbps and higher speeds, are concerned that they won't have enough time to build network facilities that will support such speeds.