Broadband customers are getting what they pay for, and they're getting it faster, a new report said. That’s the big takeaway from this year’s “Measuring Broadband America” report. It was released Thursday by the FCC Wireline Bureau using data gathered by contractor SamKnows in collaboration with ISPs with more than 80 percent of U.S. residential broadband subscribers. The report (http://xrl.us/bnhgkk) said broadband providers have significantly improved accuracy in actual versus advertised speeds during the past year, with speeds during peak times rising 9 percentage points to 96 percent of what companies marketed, and consumers are continuing to subscribe to ever-faster speed tiers.
The New America Foundation suggests some major changes in spectrum policy as part of a policy paper. “Public Media, Spectrum Policy, and Rethinking Public Interest Obligations for the 21st Century,” considers “reforms and innovations in spectrum policy that would enable and sustain an expanded public media to better support quality news, journalism, education, arts, and civic information in the 21st century,” the paper said (http://xrl.us/bncjnt). Among proposals are “supplementing ill-enforced public interest obligations on commercial broadcasters with spectrum license fees that could support multi-platform public media,” getting rid of spectrum auctions in favor of a fee system supporting public media and “requiring spectrum licensees for mobile broadband to adhere to non-discrimination rules for Internet content, applications, and services.” CTIA wasn’t impressed. “In the interest of saving you the time it takes to read the paper, so you can put your time to more productive use or just enjoy the day, the punch line is this: NAF and its backers want to expand the scope of the regulatory state in a broad and radical way,” said Jot Carpenter, CTIA vice president-government affairs. “In other words, it offers nothing new or helpful, and certainly nothing that will help advance the cause of American leadership in the broadband age."
The FCC needs to become “more nimble” in “keeping pace with the marketplace and technological innovation,” new Commissioner Ajit Pai told the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. The FCC’s other new Commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, told the CAC consumer issues loom large for her.
Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox went on the attack against T-Mobile, urging the FCC to reject T-Mobile’s arguments against the sale of AWS licenses from the cable operators to Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile has emerged as a leading opponent of the spectrum deals. The broadside comes as the FCC and Department of Justice’s review of the deals appears to be nearing its final stages, with approval likely, though with substantial conditions (CD June 11 p1).
CEA said the FCC should “reject requests to mandate interoperability across all paired spectrum in the Lower 700 MHz band.” The suggestion came in comments filed Friday at the FCC. A 700 MHz interoperability mandate “would increase handset and deployment costs in the 700 MHz Band, which would hamper innovation in the dynamic and innovative wireless handset marketplace by reducing the options manufacturers and service providers have to meet their customers’ needs, and delay broadband deployment,” CEA said (http://xrl.us/bm93x3). “A mandate also would undermine future spectrum auctions and standards-setting efforts.” The interoperability requirement has been a top focus of small carriers, led by the Rural Cellular Association. The Telecommunications Industry Association also filed in opposition, saying such a mandate would delay development of devices targeted for the band. “Device manufacturers face significant technical hurdles to create devices that can operate across all 700 MHz bands,” TIA said (http://xrl.us/bm93yh). “For example, additional components such as filters, power amplifiers, and switches, would need to be inserted into wireless devices. This concern is exacerbated by the fact that, in order to ensure compliance with an interoperability mandate, handsets may be unable to roam onto other bands for national and international service. The number of bands which can be supported by a wireless device are limited, and a handset likely cannot support both roaming and operation across all 700 MHz bands."
Former NTIA Administrator Larry Irving, a Democrat, said Wednesday the Obama White House needs to provide a bigger push to get various government agencies, from the Department of Defense down, to come to the table to discuss clearing government spectrum for wireless broadband. Irving, the longest-serving NTIA administrator, who worked for President Bill Clinton, said just talking about spectrum isn’t enough. Irving was the lead speaker at an event sponsored by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, and the Rutgers School of Law/Camden: Institute for Information Policy & Law.
Fixed wireless providers need more spectrum to serve the 48 million rural Americans with no access to broadband Internet, representatives of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association told reporters Wednesday. Members of the association, which consists of about 700 small and medium-sized ISPs, were in town to advocate for access to additional spectrum for unlicensed fixed use, and to educate legislators on the value of unlicensed spectrum in bringing fixed wireless broadband to unserved and underserved areas.
Senate Commerce Committee members evaluated the FCC’s positions on wireless competition, the E-rate program, net neutrality, spectrum incentive auctions and broadband deployment, during the agency’s first oversight hearing in three years. The commissioners would not say whether they planned to start an investigation into allegations of News Corp. misconduct, but said they were monitoring the situation. Newly minted FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel were largely silent at the Wednesday hearing, and primarily deferred to established agency talking points.
Having five FCC members for the first time in about a year automatically gives the agency more legitimacy, and the new additions may push the commission to act on some long-pending issues, industry officials and the most recent member to step down predicted. USF contribution is an issue that will see commission action soon anyway, and adding Ajit Pai as the new Republican member and Jessica Rosenworcel as the new Democratic commissioner brings differing views that could be helpful (CD May 8 p1). Meredith Baker left the FCC late last spring, and Pai fills her term through 2016.
Wireless competition has taken a turn for the worse since the Rural Cellular Association filed earlier comments on the FCC’s annual Wireless Competition Report, RCA said in a filing. T-Mobile and NTCH, which does business as Clear Talk, also told the agency the threats to wireless competition are rising, and that should be reflected in the next version of the report. In the last two reports, the FCC declined to draw any conclusions on whether the U.S. wireless industry is effectively competitive.