Mar 05, 2021 13:00:00

Politicians call on the Federal Communications Commission to quadruple the definition of broadband as 'up and down 100Mbps or more'

A group of politicians has submitted a statement to the

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates and supervises the broadcasting and communications business in the United States , that 'the definition of broadband should be quadrupled.'

Senators call on FCC to quadruple base high-speed internet speeds --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/4/22312065/fcc-highspeed-broadband-service-ajit-pai-bennet-angus-king-rob-portman

Since 2015, the definition of broadband in the United States has been 3 Mbps for uplink and 25 Mbps for downlink. However, with the pandemic of the new coronavirus, many people are now working remotely from home, and the demand for broadband is only increasing.

Under such circumstances, a group of US senators has submitted a written opinion to several government agencies, including the FCC, urging the definition of broadband to be four times faster. A group of senators argue that the definition of broadband should be '100 Mbps or higher for both uplinks and downlinks.'

The group of senators who submitted the open letter includes four members, including

Michael Bennett , Joe Manchin , Angus King, and Rob Portman. 'From now on, the federal government should strive to spend a limited budget only on broadband, which has sufficient download and upload speeds and can maintain high quality,' said the group. He insisted that spending on government agencies should be more carefully selected in order to do so.

In a report released in early 2021, the FCC stated, 'The current definition of broadband is 3 Mbps for uplink and 25 Mbps for downlink, which is appropriate for evaluating whether fixed services provide advanced communication functions. It continues to be a good indicator, 'he said, arguing that the existing definition of broadband is a good fit.

On the other hand, overseas media The Verge said, 'The line speed defined by broadband is not fast enough for medium-sized families working on remote work. For example, Zoom makes one 1080p call. On the other hand, it is recommended to secure an upload speed of 3.8 Mbps, and if multiple people use Zoom at the same time, the existing definition of broadband cannot cover it. ' It points out that the FCC's existing definition of broadband is too poor.

The Senator group also said, 'Patients talking to doctors through telemedicine, advanced farmers working to unleash the benefits of precision agriculture, students taking remote lessons via live streaming, teleworking salaried workers, etc. Ask a family member who has multiple children taking remote lessons directly. The network used by many people should have been far from 'fast', 'said the pandemic of the new coronavirus. It suggests that the use of more internet lines has prompted a redefinition of broadband.