No need for speed: Cable industry opposes 25Mbps broadband definition
Normal people don't need 25Mbps down or 3Mbps up, cable lobby says.
by Jon Brodkin
Ars Technica
Jan 24 2015, 1:30pm CST
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/no-need-for-speed-cable-industry-opposes-25mbps-broadband-definition/
The cable lobby is opposed to a Federal Communications Commission plan
to define "broadband" as speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps up.
Customers do just fine with lower speeds, the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association (NCTA) wrote in an FCC filing Thursday
(thanks to the Washington Post's Brian Fung for pointing it out).
25Mbps/3Mbps isn't necessary to meet the legal definition of
"high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that
enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data,
graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology," the NCTA said.
"Notably, no party provides any justification for adopting an upload
speed benchmark of 3Mbps," NCTA Counsel Matthew Brill wrote. "And the
two parties that specifically urge the Commission to adopt a download
speed benchmark of 25 Mbps—Netflix and Public Knowledge—both offer
examples of applications that go well beyond the 'current' and 'regular'
uses that ordinarily inform the Commission’s inquiry under Section 706"
of the Telecommunications Act.
Hypothetical use cases showing the need for 25Mbps/3Mbps "dramatically
exaggerate the amount of bandwidth needed by the typical broadband
user," the NCTA said.
"Netflix, for instance, bases its call for a 25Mbps download threshold
on what it believes consumers need for streaming 4K and ultra-HD video
content—despite the fact that only a tiny fraction of consumers use
their broadband connections in this manner, and notwithstanding the
consensus among others in the industry that 25Mbps is significantly more
bandwidth than is needed for 4K streaming," the NCTA said. "Meanwhile,
Public Knowledge asserts in conclusory fashion that an 'average' US
household constantly streams at least three high-definition movies
simultaneously while also running various 'online backup services and
other applications'—without providing any evidence indicating that such
usage is at all 'average.'"
The commission defines broadband as 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up but hasn't
changed the definition since 2010. The FCC is required under Section 706
to determine whether broadband is being deployed to Americans in a
reasonable and timely way, and the commission must take action to
accelerate deployment if the answer is negative. Raising the
definition's speeds provides more impetus to take actions that promote
competition and remove barriers to investment, such as a potential move
to preempt state laws that restrict municipal broadband projects.
But changing the definition doesn't create any immediate impact other
than lowering the percentage of Americans who have "broadband" and
shaming Internet providers that don't offer broadband speeds. Even if
the NCTA loses its battle to keep the lower broadband definition, it
wants to make sure that any change has no real world effect.
"As an initial matter, the Commission should make clear, as it has in
prior Broadband Progress Reports, that any speed benchmark it adopts has
no regulatory significance beyond the new Report," the NCTA said.
The FCC does set a minimum speed for rural broadband projects that rely
on Universal Service funds, but it settled on a definition of 10Mbps
down and 1Mbps up for that purpose.
Verizon is also lobbying against a faster broadband definition. This is
no surprise; while cable technology is robust enough to deliver
25Mbps/3Mbps, DSL speeds are far more limited in comparison. Verizon
does offer fiber Internet service but much of its territory is still
stuck on DSL.
Verizon told the FCC last week that broadband is already "being deployed
in a reasonable and timely fashion." Verizon also wants the FCC to count
cellular service as broadband alongside fixed Internet service, but FCC
Chairman Tom Wheeler argues that mobile's pricing levels and data caps
make it an unsuitable substitute for cable and fiber.
Though a majority of Americans can purchase broadband of at least
100Mbps, Wheeler has focused on the lack of competition at higher
Internet speeds. While 75 percent of American homes have at least two
options for wired broadband of 4Mbps/1Mbps, only 25 percent have a
choice of at least two providers at the 25Mbps/3Mbps threshold:
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