USTelecom and CTIA Urge Tightly Focused Section 706 Report
The latest comments posted in docket 25-223 show disagreement on what changes the FCC should make to its approach to its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress (see 2509090010). Among them, USTelecom and CTIA urged the commission to refocus the report to look just at deployment. Commissioners approved a notice of inquiry in August on the preparation of the reports, with an eye on more narrowly focusing them based on the statutory language (see 2508050056).
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Nothing in the Telecom Act “authorizes the Commission to expand its inquiry into broader policy areas such as adoption, affordability, or equitable access,” USTelecom said in docket 25-223 “By returning the inquiry to a clear focus on deployment and availability, the Commission properly hews to its statutory mandate.” CTIA said the NOI “appropriately focuses on whether progress in the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability is reasonable and timely, realigning its approach with the plain language of the statute.”
NCTA said the next report should make clear that deployment is happening in a “reasonable and timely fashion.” The broadband market “is dynamic and flourishing.” Almost all in the U.S. “currently have access to broadband services at 100/20 Mbps speeds and 73% of Americans have access to two or more fixed terrestrial providers (i.e., not including satellite), reflecting a dramatic increase since 2014 and a 16.4 percentage point jump just from December 2022 alone,” NCTA said.
Incompas argued that AI will drive demand for faster broadband. Even if the commission abolishes the long-term goal of the 1,000/500 Mbps speed benchmark in 2024 report, it should “continue tracking progress toward higher-capacity benchmarks, even if such goals are not a part of the formal Section 706 finding.”
The Rural Wireless Association said the report should define mobile advanced telecommunications capability as the availability of speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps “in an in-vehicle mobile environment rather than an outdoor stationary environment as proposed” in the NOI. “In-vehicle coverage better reflects the actual consumer mobile experience, especially in rural areas.”
The Competitive Carriers Association said the commission “should continue to evaluate fixed and mobile broadband separately, ensuring that both datasets are robust and comparable across the country.”