On September 6, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission launched its latest (and 18th overall, if you're scoring at home) inquiry into the state of broadband in the United States. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress instructed the FCC (also known as "the Commission" to friends) to annually conduct an inquiry “concerning the availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms)” as part of an effort to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”

In August 2022, the FCC released the Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund and adopted the "goals of universal deployment, affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access to broadband throughout the United States as the Commission’s universal service goals for broadband." Earlier this year, the FCC found "that these universal service goals, which are not limited to the narrow question of physical deployment of service, are consistent with those adopted in the Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund (Future of USF Report), and accurate indicators of whether [broadband] is universally available." The September 6 Notice of Inquiry marks the first proceeding after the FCC's findings on affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access.

Below we look at the questions the FCC is asking now about broadband availability.

Deployment of Broadband Networks

In the Telecommunications Act, "advanced telecommunications capability" is defined as “high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.”

The FCC has consistently found that both fixed and mobile services can provide “advanced telecommunications capability”—and that the salient differences between the services lie not in their technological differences but in the distinct capabilities that fixed and mobile services offer to consumers. The FCC has found that fixed and mobile services should be treated as complementary, rather than as full substitutes, and that consumers have advanced telecommunications capability to the extent they have access to both fixed and mobile broadband service.

The FCC now seeks comment on the above findings and whether they continue to apply to today’s broadband market.  

• Should the FCC continue treating fixed and mobile services as complementary?  
• Is the FCC’s prior conclusion that deployment of advanced telecommunications capability requires access to both fixed and mobile broadband services still appropriate?  
• How do the characteristics of typical fixed and mobile broadband service plans compare—for example, in terms of price, data allowances, throttling policies, overage fees, etc.?

Fixed Broadband Service Speeds

Earlier this year, the FCC set a new benchmark for defining advanced telecommunications capability for fixed broadband—100 megabits per second (Mbps) download paired with 20 Mbps upload speeds. The FCC now proposes to retain that benchmark and seeks comment on the proposal. Have there been any significant changes in fixed broadband providers’ offerings or consumers’ usage that would warrant a change in our fixed speed benchmark at this time?  

The FCC also adopted a long-term fixed speed goal of 1,000 Mbps, or 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), download speed paired with 500 Mbps upload speed. The long-term goal is intended to be a guidepost for evaluating the FCC's efforts to encourage deployment and an aspirational goal to encourage deployment of services that are forward-looking and more relevant for the future. 

The FCC now proposes to retain this goal and seeks comment on that proposal asking: Is there any reason to change the long-term fixed speed benchmark at this time? Should the FCC provide a timeframe for achieving this goal and, if so, what should the timeframe be?

Mobile Broadband Service 

The FCC seeks comment on its proposal to continue to use mobile broadband deployment data collected through the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) as its primary data source for measuring service availability of mobile broadband for the upcoming report. The FCC also proposes to continue to use FCC Form 477 mobile broadband deployment data for historical context where appropriate. Data collected by the Ookla Speedtest mobile app include test results for download speed, upload speed, and latency, as well as other information, such as the location of the test and operating system of the handset. The FCC seeks comment on whether it should continue to supplement mobile provider BDC data with Ookla’s on-the-ground speed data.

Previously, the FCC has declined to adopt a mobile advanced telecommunications capability benchmark, primarily due to the inherent variability in the performance characteristics of mobile service, both geographically and temporally. Instead, the FCC has used multiple speed metrics to evaluate the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability for mobile services. The FCC asks now if it should continue to use the same multiple speed metrics approach.

Broadband Competition 

The FCC seeks comment on its proposal to include an assessment of the number of fixed and mobile broadband provider options to which consumers have access, believing the data may help the Commission understand barriers to deployment because the number of providers may correlate, at least to some degree, with such barriers.

Getting the Right Broadband Deployment Data

The FCC uses its own Broadband Data Collection (BDC) as the primary data source for analyzing physical deployment data in this inquiry. For this proceeding, the FCC proposes to use BDC data from December 2023. The FCC seeks comment on that proposal. Should the FCC use more recent BDC data even if those data will have had only brief exposure to the BDC’s challenge, verification, and audit processes? The FCC asks if there is other fixed broadband deployment data it should use instead of or in addition to BDC data. 

The FCC collects—and has used in previous reports—deployment data for speeds of 25/3 Mbps, 100/20 Mbps, and 940/500 Mbps. The FCC seeks comment on the continued relevance of 25/3 Mbps as such speeds are below the current benchmark. Are there other speeds, perhaps symmetrical speeds, that would be useful to report?

In its broadband deployment report from earlier this year, the FCC included two variants of physical deployment data for fixed broadband services: 1) including fixed wireless service, and 2) excluding fixed wireless service. Since consumers continue to adopt fixed-wireless services, the FCC proposes that deployment data that exclude fixed wireless service is of limited relevance, and therefore, the Commission proposes not to report or analyze these data.

Previously, satellite broadband service has been excluded from the evaluation of the physical deployment of advanced telecommunications capability. In this proceeding, the FCC is reconsidering this exclusion and seeks comment on this potential change.

Reducing Barriers to Broadband Adoption

Broadband adoption barriers include the affordability of devices used to access broadband services (including those used by people with disabilities), the lack of information about programs that make broadband services more affordable, and digital literacy. The FCC considers the goal of universal broadband adoption to be a universal lack of barriers to adoption—not 100 percent adoption.

In this proceeding, the FCC proposes to again use this characterization of the universal service adoption goal and asks if commenters agree with this formulation. If they don't agree, the FCC invites comments on alternatives and, where appropriate, alternative data sources.

• Do the issues above serve as barriers to adoption?  
• To what extent do they serve as barriers?  
• Are there any other adoption barriers that the FCC should consider? 
• How should the FCC account for consumers with no interest in adopting broadband service when evaluating the universal service goal of adoption? 
• Is there reliable data available indicating that a consumer without a broadband subscription has affirmatively chosen to decline such service for reasons unrelated to adoption barriers?  

Satellite services have a relatively low adoption rate despite their apparent widespread service availability. Are there specific reasons why satellite services have lower adoption rates than other types of fixed services? To what extent should the lower adoption rates for satellite services affect the manner in which the FCC evaluates satellite services as part of this inquiry? 

The FCC proposes to calculate adoption rates for fixed broadband service by dividing the number of broadband connections in service (taken from the FCC Form 477 broadband subscription data) by the estimated number of households where mass-market fixed broadband Internet access service is reported as available in the BDC. The FCC invites comment on this proposal. Should the FCC consider information from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) on Internet access? Are there additional or alternative sources of subscription data that the FCC should consider?

Previously, to estimate the adoption of mobile broadband, the FCC presented the penetration rate, or number of mobile wireless devices per capita, by state, based on Numbering Resource Utilization/Forecast data (which exceeded 100 percent in every state) indicating that the average subscriber has more than one connected device. Should the FCC use the same methodology for mobile broadband adoption in this proceeding? Should the FCC also include mobile broadband subscriptions reported through FCC Form 477? 

The FCC invites suggestions on data sources it could use in evaluating the universal adoption component of the universal service goals beyond measuring adoption rates. For example, how should the FCC measure device affordability for both fixed and mobile broadband service? Should the Commission be examining the relationship between particular demographics, socio-economic strata, or geographic regions, and their level of awareness of broadband affordability programs and digital literacy to identify areas with populations whose rates of adoption are most affected by a lack of awareness of affordability programs and digital literacy?

Are Broadband Services Affordable?

To truly close the connectivity gap and ensure that all Americans have access to advanced telecommunications capability, broadband services must be affordable. If broadband is unaffordable, it is not effectively available to all Americans, even in areas where it has been physically deployed. Data strongly suggest that the question of whether or not Americans subscribe to broadband Internet is deeply influenced by whether or not it is affordable to them. The FCC seeks comment on this belief.

A number of factors influence the affordability of broadband services, including income, prices, household size, and consumer preferences. The FCC seeks comment on any additional data sources and methodologies that have become available.  Are there additional metrics that the Commission should consider in addition to overall price trends, the cost of broadband across income deciles, and the geographic variation of affordability? Should a household be able to afford mobile and fixed broadband service simultaneously? What information is available on consumers’ sensitivity of demand to changes in price and income?

The FCC also seeks comment on how the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program ( ACP) has affected both subscribers and providers.  

• Has the end of ACP made broadband less affordable?  
• Are data sources and methodologies available that would allow us to measure the impact of ACP ending, including measuring how the end of the ACP has affected the overall number of households that have access to the Internet and what specific geographic areas, demographic groups, or types of consumers (e.g., subscribers to mobile, fixed, pre-paid services) have been affected more by the end of the ACP?  
• How has the end of the ACP affected service providers financially?  
• Has the end of the ACP impacted the products and services that service providers offer generally and to low-income consumers in particular?  
• How will the end of the ACP affect the Commission’s universal service goals, including those of availability, affordability, and equitable access?

Quality of Service: Broadband Availability Beyond Deployment

The FCC believes that service quality is critical because it has real and significant effects on consumers’ ability to use critical web-based applications. For the FCC's universal service goal of availability, all aspects of service quality should be evaluated. If a “service” does not have the characteristics reasonably expected of that service when a consumer wants to use it, then that service cannot be said to be “available.” 

In its evaluation of service quality, the FCC identified factors, such as latency and consistency of service. The FCC invites comment on how to best measure these factors. What other elements of service availability, if any, should the FCC consider? Should the availability goal be understood to encapsulate the quality of broadband service, including, for example, the frequency of service outages? If so, what criteria should the FCC rely upon to define availability for the purposes of this inquiry?  Are there particular quantitative or qualitative data that the FCC can rely upon to analyze service availability for this purpose?

Other factors, besides speed, can affect consumers’ ability to use mobile broadband services effectively. In addition to upload and download speeds, are there other characteristics of mobile broadband service quality—such as latency—that the FCC should analyze?  If so, should the FCC consider benchmarks for those criteria that would affect mobile performance? Are there any sources of data on latency for mobile services that would support its consideration as a criterion for advanced telecommunications capability?  The FCC seeks comment generally regarding how to address any additional potential criteria, and what data sources the FCC could rely on for analysis of these additional metrics from year-to-year.

Subscribers Should Benefit from Equitable Access to Broadband Service

The FCC uses the term “equity” to mean:

The FCC invites comment on any equity-related considerations as part of its continuing effort to advance digital equity for all, including people of color, persons with disabilities, persons who live in rural or Tribal areas, and others who are or have been historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Are there steps that the next broadband report can and should take to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility?

Measuring School and Classroom Access 

The FCC is required to assess the deployment and service availability of advanced telecommunications capability to “elementary and secondary schools and classrooms.”

In 2015, the FCC adopted the following benchmarks for deployment to schools: 1) a short-term speed benchmark of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students and staff, and 2) a long-term speed benchmark of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff. Earlier this year, the FCC updated the long-term goal of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff as the new short-term speed benchmark, finding that use of an already well-understood short-term speed benchmark would be administratively efficient and that the nation was already well on its way to meeting the new short-term goal. However, the FCC declined to establish a new long-term goal due to the lack of available data to measure speeds above the now current short-term goal of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff.

The FCC now seeks comment on whether the Commission should establish a new long-term benchmark and, if so, what it should be and why.  

• If the FCC adopts a new long-term speed benchmark at this point, what should the timeframe be for achieving the new benchmark?  
• What potential sources of data could be used to determine whether a new long-term goal can be established?  
• Can the FCC use data already collected through the E-Rate program to measure and track progress toward the short- and long-term goals?  
• Is there additional data that the FCC should consider collecting?  
• Should the goal be the same across the entire nation or should the FCC  tailor goals differently for different areas that may face different challenges or needs?  
• Should the FCC continue to state goals that are per number of total students or staff?  Or should the FCC consider goals that are based on the current service of an area (for example, x% increase over y timeframe)? 
• What is the appropriate timeframe for a long-term benchmark and should there be intermediate goals along the way?  Should the goal be focused primarily on download speeds?  Or should the FCC consider other dimensions of availability and quality?

Universal Service Goal Findings

The FCC seeks comment on the best ways to analyze the universal service goals of universal deployment, adoption, affordability, availability, and equitable access to broadband to inform this inquiry.

• How should the FCC determine whether a particular universal service goal has been met?  To the extent that the FCC’s BDC data shows that progress has been made, how should that affect the Commission’s ultimate finding?  
• If the FCC were to find that progress is relevant to the finding, what timespan should be evaluated (e.g., over each six-month BDC dataset or year-over-year), and what progress should be considered sufficient to reach a positive finding with respect to the universal service goal of deployment? 
• How should the FCC take into account enforceable broadband commitments made as part of the BEAD program or other federal funding programs?  For example, should the FCC’s findings assume or project further deployment?  

The FCC's last broadband report was unable to definitively evaluate several of the goals due to limited or incomplete data. Have new data become available that would enable the FCC to make more definitive findings with respect to the non-deployment universal service goals for the next report?

The FCC also seeks comment on the continuing effects of the Commission’s and other ongoing federal efforts to spur broadband deployment, for example, through the funding made available to the states through the BEAD Program. Have these efforts been effective at narrowing the digital divide?  Are there external data sources available regarding these efforts that the FCC can analyze?

If the FCC finds that broadband is not being made available to all Americans in a timely fashion, what actions should the Commission take to further its universal service goals for broadband, both in the near- and long-term?  

• What actions should the FCC take to further promote competition?  
• Are there existing regulatory barriers impeding broadband deployment or investment that the FCC should consider eliminating?  
• Are there additional efforts the FCC should undertake to encourage further investment in broadband buildout by the private sector?  

Finally, the FCC seeks comment on whether additional efforts to promote integrity within the Universal Service Fund and other FCC programs would help advance the universal service goals of this inquiry.

Timeline

Comments are due in this proceeding by October 7, 2024; reply comments are due November 6. We may not be the first to point out that there is a presidential election this year and the findings of this inquiry will not be made until after election day. That election, as we all know, will mean new leadership in the Administration which could also mean a new chair of the FCC. 

Under similar circumstances in 2020-21, then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rushed the adoption of the Fourteenth Broadband Deployment Report to just before the inauguration of President Joe Biden. There is no telling if current FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will make a similar move.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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