Toward an activity-based definition of minimum broadband speed

[Commentary] Broadband speed has become a key metric for internet policy. Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has repeatedly emphasized that 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed should be “table stakes” for a 21st century network. Others have pushed for higher speeds. Susan Crawford, for example, has called for a nationwide gigabit network. But when pressed, advocates typically offer little to justify these benchmarks beyond a generic appeal to the truism that “more is better.”

Given the role that such benchmarks play in telecommunications policy, the incoming administration should consider establishing a robust, objective, activity-based definition of minimum broadband speed.

[Daniel Lyons an associate professor at Boston College Law School]