Chairman Wheeler's Response to Senators Daines, Wicker, Blunt, Fischer, Johnson and Gardner Regarding the 2016 Broadband Progress Report

On Jan 21, Sens Steve Daines (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Cory Gardner (R-CO) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding the 2016 Broadband Progress Report. The Sens wrote, "We are concerned that this arbitrary 25/3 Mbps benchmark fails to accurately capture what most Americans consider broadband, the use of this benchmark discourages broadband providers from offering speeds at or above the benchmark, the definition contradicts the 'broadband' definition the Commission used in its Open Internet Order, and that the Commission uses an entirely different benchmark when it comes to rural America."

On March 1, Chairman Wheeler responded, noting that the 25 Mbps/3 Mbps speed benchmark is not a definition of "broadband", but rather, the benchmark is used to measure the deployment of those broadband services that are able to provide Americans with "advanced telecommunications capability". Chairman Wheeler further explained how the FCC arrived at the benchmark, and the different applications of the term "broadband" that the FCC uses in various reports.