Tasked with developing a national broadband plan by February, the Federal Communications Commission is now seeking the public's help in defining the term.
"The Recovery Act requires the
Commission to develop a national broadband plan that seeks to ensure access to broadband capability for the entire United States. An understanding of what constitutes 'broadband' thus is essential
to evaluating the extent to which 'broadband capability' is available," the agency said in a public notice issued
Thursday.
In the past, the FCC was criticized for using outdated definitions of "high-speed." Until last year, the FCC defined broadband as Web service that allowed downloads at a speed of at
least 200 kbps. Last year, the agency re-defined broadband as service that's at least 768 kbps.
A report earlier this year by Akamai said that U.S. Web users had average broadband speeds of 3.9 Mbps -- lower than average speeds in 16 other
countries.
The FCC is requesting input on a variety of factors, including how to account for the rapid pace of technological change. "The Internet and broadband networks have been characterized
by rapid evolution and change," the agency stated. "While a static set of objectively measured thresholds may be useful to compare networks at a given time, or over time, a static definition will
fail to address changing needs and habits."