• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer, September 9, 2014

The Federal Communications Commission recently sought comments about a proposal to redefine broadband as Internet service of at least 10 Mbps, up from the current 4 Mbps threshold.

But even that higher speed isn't really all that fast, considering the emergence of fiber-optic networks that can offer speeds of 1 Gbps. In fact, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recently said that speeds of at least 25 Mbps were “fast becoming 'table stakes' in 21st century communications.”

The advocacy group Public Knowledge also recently said as much in written comments urging the FCC to define broadband as speeds of at least 25 Mbps. 

“This is a speed that insures that average households have adequate capacity for online video and other applications,” Public Knowledge wrote. The group added that higher-speed broadband will allow people in a household to use the Internet for different purposes at the same time. That is, one person will be able to stream high-definition video while another syncs data to the cloud.

For their part, Internet service providers disagree that higher speeds are necessary. AT&T specifically takes issue with with a suggestion by the FCC that 10 Mbps would be necessary for a household of three people who are trying to use the Web at the same time for different purposes -- streaming an HD movie (7 Mbps), making a video call (1.5 Mbps), saving files to the cloud (1.1 Mbps) and syncing alerts (0.4 Mbps).

“The Commission’s assumption that the full bandwidth amounts would be continuously needed is incorrect,” AT&T writes.

The company adds that networks are already engineered “in ways that efficiently allow concurrent uses, so that less overall bandwidth would typically be necessary.”

Verizon also opposes changing the definition of broadband, as does the industry group National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

“The Commission suggests that raising the threshold may be necessary due to increased usage of Internet applications and devices,” the NCTA writes. “It is true that usage is increasing, but this increased usage has not changed the nature of voice, data, and video traffic or the capability required to handle that traffic.”