PCCA Journal|1
st
Quarter 2015
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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.