INCOMPAS Members Jump into Push for Broadband Speed

Former Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering are launching a new coalition, BroadLand, urging Congress to demand faster internet speeds as part of any multibillion-dollar broadband infrastructure initiatives. The floor should be at least 100 megabits per second for both downloads and uploads, the group says. Those speeds may sound awesome to anyone who’s tried to stream Netflix movies at home while roommates or family members conference over Zoom or attend virtual classes. But private wireless and cable providers fear that such high benchmarks could make it hard to compete against taxpayer-funded fiber projects. INCOMPAS members Google Fiber, Netflix, Crown Castle, Tilson, FirstLight, Granite, and Windstream are all behind the effort, which will also push to speed up the buildout of physical internet infrastructure by overhauling rules around siting and permitting. Pickering said the coalition wants to pitch support for a big broadband infrastructure effort in a way that’s different from rival trade groups: “There are a lot of the incumbent associations that are trying to defend slower speeds and asymmetrical services,” Pickering says. It’s also a matter of equity, Clyburn said. “We should not accept the trade-off with some kids being stuck with super-slow speeds while other neighborhoods have access to gigabit services,” she said.