US fails its annual broadband deployment test at FCC

The Federal Communications Commission’s annual review of broadband deployment says that advanced Internet service is still not being offered to all Americans.

34 million Americans, about 10 percent of the country, “still lack access to fixed broadband at the FCC’s benchmark speed of 25Mbps for downloads, 3Mbps for uploads,” the FCC said in a fact sheet released today. This isn’t a question of not being able to afford broadband or deciding to go without—when the FCC says you don’t have access, that means no providers are willing to serve your home at modern broadband speeds at any price.

There is good news, though. In 2012, a full 20 percent of Americans could not buy 25Mbps/3Mbps broadband. The number dropped to 17 percent in 2013 and then to 10 percent in 2014. Data for 2015 isn’t available yet. The annual Broadband Progress Report is based on filings by Internet service providers, and it takes a while to crunch all the numbers, so the reports are always a little behind.

FCC broadband deployment data.

Credit: FCC

The broadband analysis includes all home Internet services, including DSL, cable, fiber, satellite, and Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). The FCC started including satellite this year, but it didn’t change the numbers much, if at all, because satellite speeds usually don’t reach 25Mbps, officials said.

A law passed by Congress in 1996 requires the FCC to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion” and take immediate action to speed deployment if the answer is negative. Even though the number of Americans who cannot access broadband has been cut in half since 2012, the answer is still negative because the law says broadband must be deployed to all Americans, FCC officials told Ars.

Moreover, there are big access problems in rural areas.

“A persistent urban-rural digital divide has left 39 percent of the rural population without access to fixed broadband,” the FCC fact sheet said. “By comparison, only 4 percent living in urban areas lack access.”

In tribal lands, 41 percent of residents lack broadband access. Schools are also behind, as “41 percent of schools [serving 47 percent of the nation’s students] have not met the Commission’s short-term goal of 100Mbps per 1,000 students/staff,” the FCC said.

The broadband report hasn’t been released in full yet. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating a draft to fellow commissioners, and the entire report will be released after an FCC vote on January 28.

The annual report made a big change last year when it redefined broadband to include only services with speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream, up from the old definition of 4Mbps and 1Mbps. This was done on a 3-2 vote along party lines, with Republicans objecting. Broadband providers also objected, saying that lower speeds should qualify as advanced Internet service.

Keeping a lower broadband standard would have made America’s broadband numbers look better, in part because DSL networks could often meet the old standard but not the new one.

US Census data from 2013 found that 74.4 percent of all households were using the Internet, including those using just mobile broadband.

Americans need fixed and mobile Internet

This year’s report doesn’t have any changes as big as last year’s, but it previews a change to be made in future years. The report concludes that “advanced telecommunications capability requires access to both fixed and mobile broadband.” That means consumers should have access to both home broadband and cellular Internet service, not just one or the other, or the FCC will determine that they do not have access to broadband.