The American Federal Definition of Broadband Is Both Useless and Harmful

Definitions matter. Especially when those definitions come from the federal government. In the case of “broadband,” the definition set by the federal government creates our standard of Internet living. Depressingly, the American government’s definition means broadband providers get away with offering very poor levels of “broadband.” Today, that metric is 25 megabits per second download (25 Mbps) and three megabits per second (3 Mbps) upload. Based on that metric, the most recent broadband deployment report from the FCC has found that everyone, everywhere in America has broadband. Mission accomplished; we have solved all the problems of Internet access, right? Obviously, no. No one thinks we have actual universal broadband in the United States today. The needs of Internet users have long ago surpassed the FCC’s 25/3 metric. It’s possible this metric was out-of-date from the moment it was established.