May 2019

Commissioner O'Rielly Statement on 2019 Broadband Deployment Report

To be clear: according to our data collection, which has been rightfully criticized, approximately nine million Americans still lack access to even 10/1 Mbps service, and our finding here does not deny that point. However, our statutory mandate is not only to determine whether all Americans currently have access to advanced telecommunications capabilities, but also whether progress in deploying such services is proceeding at a reasonable and timely pace, and an affirmative response to the latter inquiry is completely consistent with the facts on the ground.

Commissioner Carr Statement on 2019 Broadband Deployment Report

This year’s Section 706 report contains more good news for American leadership in 5G. The FCC’s policies are working. Internet speeds in the U.S. have never been faster: they’re up nearly 40%. The digital divide— the percentage of Americans without access to high-speed Internet access—narrowed by nearly 20%. Providers built fiber broadband out to more homes last year than ever before. The U.S. now has the largest commercial deployment of 5G in the world, and we’re predicted to have more than two times the percentage of 5G connections as Asia.

Commissioner Rosenworcel Statement on 2019 Broadband Deployment Report

It is simply not credible for the Federal Communications Commission to clap its hands and pronounce our broadband job done—and yet that is exactly what it does in this report today. By determining that under the law broadband deployment is reasonable and timely for all Americans, we not only fall short of our statutory responsibility, we show a cruel disregard for those who the digital age has left behind.... This report deserves a failing grade. It concludes that broadband deployment is reasonable and timely throughout the United States.

Commissioner Starks Statement on 2019 Broadband Deployment Report

The 2019 Broadband Deployment Report reaches the wrong conclusion. According to the report, the digital divide has narrowed substantially over the past two years and broadband is being deployed on a reasonable and timely basis. The rosy picture the report paints about the status of broadband deployment is fundamentally at odds with reality. While I would like to be able to celebrate along with the FCC’s majority, our broadband deployment mission is not yet accomplished.

2019 Broadband Deployment Report

The Federal Communications Commission is charged with “encourag[ing] the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans,” by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market. For the past two years, the FCC has taken up the mantle; it has made closing the digital divide between Americans with, and without, access to modern broadband networks its top priority.

Net Neutrality Legislation: A Framework for Consensus

Since 2004, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings on net neutrality have been caught in a vicious cycle. They have been passed, fought in court, and returned to the FCC with minor (and sometimes major) revisions.

Sponsor 

Fiber Broadband Association

Date 
Mon, 06/03/2019 - 12:00 to Wed, 06/05/2019 - 16:00

Event for fiber broadband professionals



Sponsor 

Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee

Federal Communications Commission

 

Date 
Thu, 06/13/2019 - 14:30

The agenda of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee's (BDAC) first meeting will be to introduce the BDAC members, describe the working groups, assign members to working groups, and begin discussing how to accelerate the deployment of broadband by reducing and/or removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment. The BDAC will also receive a status report from the Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group.

This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the BDAC Chair and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO).