Commentary

House Republicans Slam FCC's 'Troubling' Broadband Moves

Last month, a group of Republican U.S. senators criticized the Federal Communications Commission's decision to redefine broadband service as speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream.

Now, two House Republicans are chiming in with their own complaints about the new standard, adopted in 2015. Before, the FCC defined broadband as 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream.

"This new definition of broadband gave Americans three different flavors of Internet access: dial-up, broadband over 25 Mbps, and other Internet access that is not broadband by the FCCs' definition," Reps. Fred Upton (Michigan), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Greg Walden (Oregon), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, say today in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

The gist of the lawmakers' complaint appears to be that the FCC is playing fast and loose with the concept of broadband in order to justify new regulations.

"Instead of uniformity of definition, the Commission has instead made broadband speed a variable in the regulatory equation," the lawmakers write. "This represents the latest in [a] series of troubling actions that distort -- or outright ignore -- the FCC's requirements to produce honest, data-driven reports to inform policymakers and the public."

Upton and Walden seem particularly critical of the FCC's 2016 report on broadband, adopted last month, which concludes that broadband isn't being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner. That determination relies on the FCC's finding that at least 34 million U.S. residents -- representing 10% of the population -- cannot currently obtain Web connections at speeds of at least 25 Mbps.

The lawmakers are posing a series of questions to Wheeler, including why the agency decided last year that 4 Mbps was too slow to be considered broadband.

The answer should be obvious: Speeds that were once considered fast are no longer adequate for people to be able to access the vast trove of content and services that are now available online.

Streaming video in Ultra HD alone requires at least 15 Mbps, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in 2014, when the FCC was considering whether to change the definition of broadband. If different people in the same household want to simultaneously stream high-speed video, or participate in an online course or video conference, clearly they're going to need a faster connection than 4 Mbps.

The lawmakers have asked Wheeler to respond by Feb. 19.

Next story loading loading..