FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to lower broadband standards is “crazy,” says Commissioner Rosenworcel

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal that could lower the country's broadband standard is "crazy" and does nothing to solve the United States' broadband accessibility problems, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

The FCC is "proposing to lower US broadband standard from 25 to 10Mbps," Commissioner Rosenworcel tweeted. "This is crazy. Lowering standards doesn't solve our broadband problems." Commissioner Rosenworcel didn't make an official statement when the Notice of Inquiry was released because she wasn't on the commission at that time; she was sworn in for a new term just days later. She previously served on the FCC before a temporary departure caused by political haggling in the Senate. In her first term on the FCC, Commissioner Rosenworcel argued that the FCC should set its broadband standard much higher. "I think our new threshold should be 100Mbps—and gigabit speed should be in our sights," Commissioner Rosenworcel said upon the release of 2016’s broadband analysis. "I believe anything short of goals like this shortchanges our children, our future, and our digital economy." Commissioner Mignon Clyburn objected to parts of the Notice of Inquiry when it was released, saying that the home broadband speed standard should be raised and that mobile should not be considered a substitute for home Internet. The FCC will vote on a final determination of whether broadband deployment is happening quickly enough sometime after the reply comment period ends. Whatever the FCC decides, it may be a party-line vote of 3-2, with the Republican majority winning out.