FCC Begins Work on Next Broadband Report

This Notice of Inquiry initiates the Federal Communications Commission’s ninth assessment of the “availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms).” This Inquiry will culminate in a report to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”

To help the FCC fulfill our statutory responsibilities, we solicit data and information that will inform the FCC’s determination and allow us to evaluate all of the factors that influence the availability of broadband to all Americans. Given the critical contribution of broadband to the opportunities for individuals to find and create jobs and prosperity, the FCC examines critically how we should define “advanced telecommunications capability.” In particular, the FCC seeks comment on the criteria the FCC should use to define “advanced telecommunications capability,” whether the FCC should establish separate benchmarks for fixed and mobile services, which data the FCC should rely on in measuring broadband, and other issues. In this Inquiry, the FCC seeks comment about these three core characteristics—speed, latency, and data capacity—for the purposes of determining whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans.