Pittsburgh Panelists Debate U.S. Broadband Ranking
Industry and think tank officials argued about U.S. broadband rankings at a Monday FCC en banc hearing in Pittsburgh. Debating how bad off the U.S. is shows “how behind we are,” said Commissioner Michael Copps. Meanwhile, AT&T and other panelists endorsed FCC action against network neutrality violators.
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The U.S. has fallen behind in broadband, said Marge Krueger, administrative director for Communications Workers of America District 13. The U.S. ranks 15th in the world on deployment on an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study, she noted, adding that the U.S. also faces a significant speed gap. U.S. download speeds average 1.9 Mbps, Krueger said, citing 2007 CWA data. Japan averages about 30 times that, she said. In 2008, Pennsylvania download speeds averaged 2.4 Mbps, upload, 504 kbps. In central parts of the state, download speed was less than 768kbps, the FCC’s new minimum standard for broadband, Krueger said.
The U.S. isn’t facing a broadband crisis, though data from international studies imply that, said Scott Wallsten, a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. The OECD doesn’t count business lines in the U.S., he said. Also, by counting per capita, OECD rankings don’t account for large U.S. households, he said.
The U.S. needs no international comparisons to see it lags on broadband, said Rahul Tongia, Carnegie Mellon senior systems scientist. It’s enough that so many people say the U.S. is behind, he said. Wallsten disagreed, declaring that good policymakers rely on data, not ideology.
The FCC should back public-private partnerships at the state level designed to get broadband to underserved areas, said Rebecca Bagley, deputy secretary for technology investment for the Pennsylvania Community and Economic Development Department. An incentives program could be the right approach, she said.
The FCC should use more USF funds in urban areas, said Rendall Harper, Wireless Neighborhoods board member. Adoption remains a problem in urban areas where broadband is available but not affordable, he said. Getting computers isn’t the issue, he said. “Appearances can be deceiving,” he said. “Once we look closer, we can see that the great majority of our… urban families are cut off” from broadband, he said. The FCC needs to help not only rural residents but low-income Americans wherever they live, said Wallsten. But the “hugely inefficient” USF program isn’t a good fit for broadband, he said.
Panelists touched on net management. CWA urged “strong enforcement action” by the FCC against providers who limit consumer access to content, especially in secret, Krueger said. The FCC has power to enforce its broadband principles, said Robert Quinn, AT&T Federal Regulatory senior vice president.
AT&T opposition to “net neutrality” laws blocking it from managing traffic doesn’t mean the carrier won’t be spending on network upgrades, Quinn said. “We need all the tools in the toolbox in order to stay ahead of the broadband curve,” he said.
Quinn offered details on AT&T’s new customer disclosure policy, revealed Monday (CD July 22 p2). AT&T will present new customer disclosures in “actually readable” documents, not legalese, Quinn said. Policies will differ on wireline and wireless, which pose different challenges, he said. New “discrete” speed tiers mean that AT&T will guarantee a minimum speed for each service package it offers, Quinn said. If a customer who signed up for 1.5 Mbps gets less than 769 kbps, AT&T will try to fix the problem, Quinn said. If the carrier can’t boost the speed, it will charge the user for the 768 kbps package, he said.
The FCC should revive the chief technologist’s office, said Carnegie Mellon professor David Farber, who was FCC chief technologist under Chairman William Kennard. The office would help avoid imposing controls at risk of stunting technological growth, he said. Speedier networks are always a priority, he said, adding that, in TeleType machines’ heyday, skeptics said there would be no need for 300 baud.
An Intel executive asked the FCC to require that cable digital set-top boxes have Internet Protocol “connectors” so the devices can run home networks. Jeffrey Lawrence, Intel director of digital home and content policy, said this would allow for “meaningful home networking” and “extend the reach of the digital set top” throughout a residence. “The market’s spoken loudly, Internet Protocol simply is networking,” he said. “We encourage the chairman to take leadership in support of this change,” a step he said could save consumers millions of dollars. “We actually share the commission’s vision of any content, any place, anytime.” Lawrence floated the proposal last week in meetings with aides to commissioners and other FCC officials, ex partes show.
Small cable operators need FCC help “as soon as possible” to fight rising programming costs, freeing money for broadband deployment, American Cable Association President Matt Polka said. Broadcasters and programmers have “unrestrained power in [contract] negotiations and exclusive markets, which are routinely used to discriminate against small- and medium-sized operators,” he said. “Rising retransmission consent costs and programming bundling directly affect whether ACA members can provide more broadband services in rural America,” he said. HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban, queried by Commissioner Michael Copps, said independent programmers need “protecting … so there are unique voices and not just corporate voices heard.”