Broadband Speed, Test, Service, & Plans on the Internet: FCC Alters Definition of Broadband
Internet speeds must be 25 Mbps or faster to be considered broadband, the Federal Communications Commission decided according to reports from CNBC.
The FCC decided in their 2015 Broadband Progress Report that download speeds for broadband connections had to be 25 Mbps or greater to be considered true broadband. Additionally, the minimum upload speed was increased from 1 Mbps to 3 Mbps.
This change will triple the amount of U.S. residents without broadband speed Internet, according to The Verge.
"When 80 percent of Americans can access 25-3 [download-upload speed], that's a standard. We have a problem that 20 percent can't. We have a responsibility to that 20 percent," FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler said.
Other commissioners in the FCC want that speed to be even higher.
"We invented the Internet. We can do audacious things if we set big goals, and I think our new threshold, frankly, should be 100Mbps. I think anything short of that shortchanges our children, our future, and our new digital economy," FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said.
The FCC faced opposition from companies like AT&T and Verizon who offer DSL Internet to its customers.
With the new definitions of broadband, AT&T and Verizon will not be able to say their DSL Internet services are broadband anymore. That's because AT&T tops out at 6 Mbps and Verizon tops out at 15 Mbps.
Netflix, which is offering more 4K programming recommends that download speeds for that type of content be 25 Mbps.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Associations disagrees with Netflix on that number in a letter sent to the FCC last week.
"Netflix, for instance, bases its call for a 25 Mbps 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," the NCTA said.
"The consensus among others in the industry that 25 Mbps is significantly more bandwidth than is needed for 4K streaming," they added.
The U.S. lags behind in broadband speeds. They currently are ranked 26th fastest in the world in terms of broadband speeds according to data from Netindex.com and Ookla Speedtest.
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