OTI Submits Reply Comments to the FCC on Broadband Deployment

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) filed reply comments in the Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding to determine whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely manner. As OTI argued in our initial comments, we do not believe that broadband deployment meets that goal.

The record showed ample support for the position that the country has a long way to go in providing broadband in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans, including from a broad coalition of public interest advocates including Public Knowledge, representatives from the tech industry such as Microsoft Corp. and INCOMPAS, and representatives from rural industry such as Deere & Company and NTCA—the Rural Broadband Association. Our reply comments focused on the following arguments: (1) the FCC should not allow mobile-only access to constitute deployment of advanced telecommunications capability, (2) the FCC should consider other factors in defining advanced telecommunications capability, (3) the FCC should adopt speed benchmarks in a technology-neutral manner, and (4) the FCC should move quickly to finalize its TV White Spaces proceeding.