• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, September 9, 2016

The Federal Communications Commission should redefine broadband as speeds of at least 50 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream, according to the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute.

Those speeds represent a significant step up from the current definition of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. The advocacy group Open Technology Institute argues that faster speeds are needed, given the growth of high-bandwidth services, ranging from high-definition video to cloud computing to online gaming.

"People use their connections for many reasons, and often multitask," the group writes in a filing submitted to the FCC this week. "It is easy to see how multiple people with multiple devices engaging in multiple online activities on the same residential connection can quickly lead to buffering, slow load times, and frustration even with a 25/3 connection."

What's more, emerging virtual reality technology, as well as the anticipated growth of the Internet of Things, also require additional bandwidth, the group argues. "The general consensus around IoT is that, with potentially billions of new devices connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi or cellular signals, capacity will need to increase," the organization writes.

If the FCC defines broadband as connection speeds faster than many people can currently access, the agency can then make a stronger argument that carriers aren't doing enough to deploy broadband.

The Open Technology Institute may be fighting a losing battle, given that the FCC recently proposed maintaining the current definitions.

Not surprisingly, groups representing Internet service providers want the FCC to do so.

"The current benchmark accommodates the expected needs of even those households using an atypically large amount of bandwidth, accounting for multiple streams of bandwidth intensive applications like HD streaming video, in addition to web browsing, email, and other applications," the National Cable & Telecommunications Association says in a filing submitted this week.

"The Commission should reject the notion of adopting a future-oriented, 'aspirational' benchmark, which would be necessarily divorced from the realities of the marketplace," the NCTA adds.