FCC Backs Off Plan to Weaken Broadband Definition, But Still Can't Admit Limited Competition Is A Problem

You might recall that a few years ago the FCC under Tom Wheeler bumped the standard definition of broadband to 25 Mbps downstream, 3 Mbps upstream. This greatly upset the broadband industry (and the numerous lawmakers and policy flacks paid to love them) because it highlighted a lack of broadband competition and deployment. That's especially true at higher speeds, where two-thirds of the U.S. lacks access to more than one ISP at that speed.

But recently, the FCC under industry BFF Ajit Pai began playing around with the idea of weakening this definition. Under Pai's plan, the FCC would have declared that 10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up wireless also counts as "broadband competition," letting the industry effectively say "mission accomplished." The problem is that wireless is often more expensive, capped (especially in rural areas), and inconsistently available (carrier coverage maps are notoriously unreliable).

Fortunately, the FCC last week stated that for some, unspecified reason they'd be backing away from the plan. Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to continually assess whether broadband is being deployed on a "reasonable and timely basis," and if not -- to do something about it. While the FCC hasn't released its full assessment yet, Pai ponied up a statement (pdf) last week that makes it clear that Pai believes everything is going swimmingly in the broadband market, thanks largely to his frontal assault on consumer protections like net neutrality:

"The draft report indicates that the pace of both fixed and mobile broadband deployment declined dramatically in the two years following the prior Commission's Title II Order. However, the draft report also discussed how, over the course of the past year, the currentCommission has taken steps to reduce barriers to infrastructure investment and promote competition in the broadband marketplace. Taken together, these policies indicate that the current FCC is now meeting its statutory mandate to encourage the deployment of broadband on a reasonable and timely basis."

So we'll note for about the hundredth time that the claim that net neutrality hurt investment is a lie easily disproved by publicly-available data. We'll also remind you that in Pai's world, "reducing barriers to infrastructure investment" means gutting broadband programs for the poor, protecting the cable industry's monopoly over the cable box from competition, making it easier for prison phone monopolies to rip off inmate families, dismantling generations old media consolidation rules simply to aid Sinclair Broadcasting's merger ambitions, killing net neutrality, killing meaningful broadband privacy protections, and helping protect the business broadband and wireless backhaul industry from actual competition. You know, potato, potAHto.

Fortunately, buried in Pai's rose-colored glasses assessment of the sector is the admission that he won't work to erode the base definition of broadband, and an acknowledgement that wireless isn't a valid replacement for fixed-line broadband:

"The draft report maintains the same benchmark speed for fixed broadband service previouslyadopted by the Commission: 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload. The draft report also concludes that mobile broadband service is not a full substitute for fixed service. Instead, it notes there are differences between the two technologies, including clear variations in consumer preferences and demands."

Yay? While that's a tiny bit of good news, it's pretty much standard operating procedure for revolving door regulators like Pai to fiddle with the numbers to pretend a lack of competition isn't a real problem. After all, if the data suggests there's a problem, as a public servant you might just be required to push policies aimed at addressing it. So while Pai has retreated from this particular effort to lower the bar to ankle height, you should expect the effort to resurface somewhere else with a decidedly different hue of public relations paint.