FCC Urged To Collect Better Information About Broadband Deployment, Price

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It's no secret that the Federal Communications Commission doesn't have the best track record when it comes to measuring broadband. “The Commission must make more robust changes to accurately understand the state of broadband access and adoption across the country,” Access Now, Benton Institutue for Broadband & Society, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and other organizations say in a filing with the FCC. The groups ask the agency to collect a host of granular data, including “address-level broadband deployment data” showing where providers offer service, and detailed information about how actual upload and download speeds compare to advertised speeds. Access Now and the others also want the FCC to gather information on pricing, arguing that cost is “one of the biggest barriers to broadband adoption and price is a primary reason why millions of Americans do not have high-speed broadband access.” They add that 42% of homes that earn less than $20,000 a year have wireline broadband service, compared to 83% of households earning more than $100,000 a year. “Despite the importance of pricing data, no government agency collects this information,” they write. “That must change, and the Commission is ideally situated to collect this data through its existing reporting requirements for broadband providers.”


FCC Urged To Collect Better Information About Broadband Deployment, Price