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PCCA Journal|1

st

Quarter 2015

31

TELECOM NEWS

Continued on page 32

FCC Finds U.S. Broadband Deployment Not Keeping

Pace, Updates Broadband Speed Benchmark

A

ccording to the 2015 Broadband Progress Report

adopted on January 29 by the Federal Communica-

tions Commission, broadband deployment in the

United States—especially in rural areas—is failing to keep

pace with today’s advanced, high-quality voice, data, graph-

ics, and video offerings.

Reflecting advances in technology, market offerings by

broadband providers, and consumer demand, the FCC updat-

ed its broadband benchmark speeds to 25 megabits per sec-

ond (Mbps) for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. The FCC

said that the 4 Mbps/1 Mbps standard set in 2010 is dated

and inadequate for evaluating whether advanced broadband

is being deployed to all Americans in a timely way.

Using this updated service benchmark, the FCC’s 2015

report finds that 55 million Americans (17 percent of the

population) lack access to advanced broadband. Moreover,

FCC Increases Rural Broadband

Speeds Under Connect America Fund

B

roadband for rural consumers

that is supported by the Connect

America Fund must deliver the

same speeds that 99 percent of urban

Americans enjoy, the Federal Commu-

nications Commission said in an order

adopted on December 11.

The FCC will now require companies

receiving Connect America funding

for fixed broadband to serve consum-

ers with speeds of at least 10 Mbps for

downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads. That

is an increase reflecting marketplace and

technological changes that have occurred

since the FCC set its previous require-

ment of 4 Mbps/1 Mbps speeds in 2011.

According to recent data, 99 percent of

Americans living in urban areas have ac-

cess to fixed broadband speeds of 10/1,

which can accommodate more modern

applications and uses. Moreover, the vast

majority of urban households are able to

subscribe to even faster service.

Congress directed the FCC to make

available in rural areas communications

services that are reasonably comparable

to those in urban areas. Increasing the

Connect America speed requirement

means that rural Americans, like urban

Americans, can tap the benefits provided

by broadband through faster web down-

loads, improved video streaming, and

service capable of supporting multiple

users in a household.

In 2011, the FCC reformed its universal

service program for rural telephone ser-

vice, claiming that it could more effec-

tively support networks delivering both

broadband and voice. With the adop-

tion of this order, the FCC is prepared

to make offers of support totaling up to

nearly $1.8 billion annually to a class of

larger carriers known as price cap carri-

ers in early 2015, which will potentially

expand service to more than 5 million

rural Americans.

The order makes a number of adjust-

ments to the 2011 reforms to accom-

modate the higher speed requirement

and better target Connect America funds

to efficiently expand broadband into

rural areas that would not otherwise be

served. These changes include:

s฀

Increasing the terms of support for

price cap carriers from five years to

six years, with an option for a seventh

year in certain circumstances,

s฀

Providing increased flexibility in the

build-out requirement, while still

ensuring that support recipients are

reaching out to Americans that were

previously unserved,

s฀

Forbearing from certain universal

service obligations in low-cost census

blocks where price cap carriers are not

eligible to receive Connect America

support, as well as census blocks

where the carriers face competition,

and

s฀

Requiring recipients that decline

Connect America support in a state

to continue to deliver voice service to

high-cost census blocks until replaced

through a competitive bidding process

by another subsidized carrier that is

required to deliver voice and 10/1

broadband.

The FCC said that the order also

makes changes that will distribute

traditional universal service support for

small carriers more equitably and curb

waste. Finally, the order is intended to

ensure that carriers adhere to voice and

broadband service obligations by setting

clear consequences for failing to meet

these standards.