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FCC increases broadband speeds under Connect America fund

2014-12-12 09:52 by
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The FCC has announced that from now on broadband providers that get federal subsidies will have to provide their customer with at least 10Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload speed. This requirement affects only companies subsidized by the Connect America Fund, which comes from fees paid by phone customers.

"The FCC will now require companies receiving Connect America funding for fixed broadband to serve consumers with speeds of at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads," writes the FCC. "That is an increase reflecting marketplace and technological changes that have occurred since the FCC set its previous requirement of 4 Mbps/1 Mbps speeds in 2011."

Not surprisingly, ISPs AT&T and Verizon had opposed the decision, claiming that current rates of 4Mbps/1Mbps are fast enough for the needs of the average user."Given the pace at which the industry is investing in advanced capabilities, there is no present need to redefine 'advanced' capabilities," wrote AT&T. "Consumer behavior strongly reinforces the conclusion that a 10Mbps service exceeds what many Americans need today to enable basic, high-quality transmissions," AT&T wrote in а filing. Verizon also shared AT&T's opinion.

Still, the FCC's official definition of broadband remains at 4Mbps/1Mbps for now, but the commission is likely to change that as well.

Read more -here-

 

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