Large telcos are not the only ones complaining that the FCC is creating regulatory uncertainty. While companies such as AT&T and Verizon are upset about Net neutrality and the FCC’s proposed “third way” of regulating broadband networks, their smaller counterparts are upset that the National Broadband Plan only targets a speed of 4 MB/s for its proposed Connect America fund.
The small telcos have persuaded a bipartisan coalition of 40 congressional officials to send FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter asserting that the 4 MB/s target is too low.
Writes BroadbandBreakfast.com:
The letter goes onto say that this threshold will not allow for the future development of bandwidth intensive applications. Additionally, it is not nearly enough to carry a reasonable amount of data for the current demands of the health care or public safety communities.
The authors criticize the organization for abandoning the “universal service” methodology for expanding telecommunications service and trying a new path. They claim this will create regulatory uncertainty that small rural telecom firms will be unable to navigate. They also believe that these recommendations will lead to job loss and a decrease in capital investment.
Connected Planet’s take,
Joan Engebretson:
When JFK talked about going to the moon, people got excited — and I believe the crafters of the National Broadband Plan hoped to get the same sort of reaction when they started talking about bringing 100 meg to 100 million households. But that approach has backfired when it comes to rural carriers, who see the NBP’s recommendation to use Universal Service funding to support 4 Mb/s to homes that do not currently have broadband as an insult in comparison.
What may not be obvious to everyone is that the government isn’t proposing to fund 100 meg to 100 households. The cable companies are well on their way to getting there already as they roll out DOCSIS 3.0. But millions of U.S. households are so remote that they do not support a business case even for 4 Mb/s service. The FCC proposes to help cover costs of bringing service to those areas through the Universal Service program, but only at speeds of 4 Mb/s because to set the goal any higher would require increasing the size of the fund, and the FCC appears dead set against that. Unfortunately, unless someone suggests a way to bring service to those remote areas at a speed higher than 4 Mb/s without increasing the size of the fund, I suspect the legislators’ letter will have no impact on Chairman Genachowski.
That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:
Joan, I am an active advocate for rural broadband. I too feel that 4 meg for rural areas is an insult. May I suggest that federal dollars be spent on something guaranteed to be scalable. What about assuring that fiber be brought out to the remote terminals? That way when future technical developments allow for faster and less expensive wonderful new services…the backhaul network will facilitate them all.