• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, September 1, 2009

The Federal Communications Commission recently asked for input on how to define broadband. Now, industry groups and consumer advocates are weighing in and, not surprisingly, offering differing views on the topic.

Advocacy group Free Press says broadband should be defined as speeds fast enough to "enable high-quality real time voice and video two-way communications" -- which will take at least 5 Mbps. But the group also asks the FCC to place a higher emphasis on "aspirational" definitions -- which Free Press says should be as much as 100 Mbps. "We strongly urge the Commission to ... adopt definitions that reflect the use of current and potential future high-bandwidth applications and services -- services that will be a key driver of the American economy for the next century," Free Press says.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, meanwhile, says that the FCC's current definition of broadband -- speeds as low as 200 kbps upstream and 768 kbps upstream -- are sufficient. "The desire for continual improvement in national broadband performance is a worthy goal, but a constantly evolving definition of 'broadband' is not necessary or helpful to achieving that goal," the group argues. "Rather than changing the definition of 'broadband' every year, the Commission should incorporate the existing definition and speed tiers into goals based on the percentage of households and businesses with access to service in a particular tier."

Free Press also urges the FCC to look at actual connection speeds as opposed to advertised speeds. One would think that those two numbers wouldn't be tremendously far apart. In reality, however, actual speed can be quite a bit slower than what's promised. Currently, at least one lawsuit is pending about that precise issue; in California, two HughesNet subscribers recently sued the company for allegedly delivering speeds far slower than the 1-3 Mbps that were promised.

The NCTA takes the exact opposite approach and argues that advertised speed is the appropriate standard -- in part because providers don't have control over all the factors that go into delivered speeds. "The speed of any particular broadband connection varies for a number of reasons, some that are controlled by the provider (e.g., the distance between a DSL customer and the closest central office or remote terminal) and some that are not (e.g., the network backbone equipment and routing, the type of computers and routers used in the home)," the group says.