The FCC's efforts to develop a national broadband policy--to be submitted to Congress in February--have been a work in constant progress, and it's no surprise the agency is seeking industry input. In response, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) argues that the FCC should settle on one definition of broadband for policy and data collection purposes. Previously, the FCC revised its definition of broadband to mean services with download speeds of more than 768 Kbps and upload speeds of more than 200 Kbps. These definitions then became part of the broadband stimulus funding programs by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS).
While initial broadband definitions have focused on speed, price and openness, the NCTA said the FCC should define broadband as "the opportunity to purchase services and equipment that enable them to access the Internet at any time and use the types of applications that are most commonly used today, such as e-mail and web browsing." What's more, the NCTA also does not think the FCC should define broadband as an evolutionary concept because it will create discrepancies with the broadband map the NTIA has created.
For more:
- Multichannel News has this article
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