Six Tricks To Claim That Americans Lack Access To Broadband

The Federal Communication Commission released its annual Broadband Deployment report for 2020. It notes the narrowest digital divide to date as more than 85 percent of Americans have a fixed terrestrial broadband service at 250/25 Mbps, a 47% increase since 2017 with many of the biggest gains in rural areas. However, the two Democrat Commissioners rejected the report, saying the data was fundamentally flawed, that as many as 162 million people lack broadband (half the population of the USA!). What’s going on? Here are six sleights of hand used in the debate:

1. Confuse deployment with adoption. People adopt services, not networks. 
2. Change the definition of broadband speed to fit predetermined policy.
3. Discriminate against technology. It is only a matter of time—and FCC delay—before wireless broadband is the perfect substitute for wireline.
4. Flip-flop on accepting the data. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks rejected the report saying the Form 477 data is inaccurate because of a methodological shortcoming. However, Democrats had no problem accepting the 477 data when they were in the majority.
5. Dismiss the level of private investment
6. Say Europe is better.

[Roslyn Layton served on the President Elect Transition Team for the Federal Communications Commission in 2016-2017 and is a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.]