AT&T disses Incompas’ 1 Gbps broadband definition proposal

AT&T says Incompas’ proposal to the Federal Communications Commission to raise the broadband definition from 25/3 Mbps to 1 Gbps will create an unrealistic environment that reaches beyond the current usage realities.

In a new FCC filing, AT&T said that the industry advocacy group does not provide any clear evidence to change the current benchmark to a faster speed. “Commenters seeking to avoid the obvious finding that Section 706 is satisfied propose to move the goal posts even further – proposing speed benchmarks even higher than 25 Mbps/3 Mbps, and as high as 1 Gbps (download speeds),” AT&T said in its FCC filing. “These commenters provide no basis for this new benchmark other than that these are the next-generation services and that providers have begun to deploy them. But this approach would ensure that the Congressional standard in Section 706 could never be satisfied, as the goal posts are constantly moved out to the over-the-horizon generation of technology as opposed to the current advanced generation that is meeting the needs of customers.”