FCC Launches New Inquiry into Broadband Availability

On August 6, the Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of Inquiry seeking data and information that will help the Commission complete its annual task under section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 of determining whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.

Specifically, section 706 requires the FCC annually to "initiate a notice of inquiry concerning the availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms)." In conducting this Inquiry, the FCC must "determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion." Section 706 also requires the FCC to provide "demographic information for unserved areas" and complete an international comparison of broadband service capability. The FCC also must conduct a consumer survey to evaluate "the national characteristics of the use of broadband" and make the results of the survey public at least once per year. If the FCC finds that broadband is not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, then the FCC "shall take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market." The purpose of this Inquiry then is to initiate the process that will allow the FCC to fulfill these statutory responsibilities. We encourage companies, policy institutes, governmental entities, analysts, consumer groups, individual broadband consumers, individuals who live or work in unserved areas, and others to provide whatever objective, empirical data and evidence might be useful to help us complete the tasks identified above. To facilitate the process, we ask a number of questions related to interpreting section 706 and measuring the availability and deployment of broadband. We also encourage commenters to bring new issues to our attention, and to submit data and evidence to the extent reasonably related to the scope of section 706.

Comments are due September 7 and reply comments are due October 5.