Posted on 01/29/2015 1:21:11 PM PST by Enlightened1
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday took a step toward improving Internet speeds in America, requiring providers to offer download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second to classify as "broadband."
The new restrictions also require 3Mbps speeds for uploads to classify as broadband Internet. Internet service providers face the more severe restrictions after the FCC determined that U.S. broadband deployment is not keeping pace with the rest of the world.
The new benchmark speeds are a large improvement from the previous requirement of 4Mbps download and 1Mbps upload to classify as broadband. The FCC said that the new speeds reflect both consumer demand and advances in technology.
The FCC's 2015 Broadband Progress Report found that 55 million Americans, or 17 percent of the population, lacks access to advanced broadband. Things are even worse in rural America, where more than half the population — 53 percent — doesn't have access to the newly set standard.
Finally, the FCC found that 35 percent of schools lack access to fiber optic Internet, which prevents access to the FCC benchmark of 100Mbps per 1,000 users. The FCC has a longer-term educational goal of 1Gbps per 1,000 users.
(Excerpt) Read more at appleinsider.com ...
Darn, those are good speeds. I would have killed for those numbers back in ‘96. (Kidding)
They are dragging their feet, charging people $50 bucks a month for 750kb or 1.5 Mb in lots of places
ATT are crooks, and flush with cash, wouldn’t worry about them going bankrupt.
I was still on my portable SCM Smith Corona Electra 120, back then.
Really?
ATT is capable but refuses to do so in lots of places all over the country
They charge $50 bucks though, but will cut that in half if you threaten to disconnect.
Well I’ve been on 52K Dial Up ever since I went on line in 1998. AT&T isn’t going to upgrade land lines in rural areas. They are phasing out the residential land line. Comcast showed up in the area and did just enough to claim territory but is a quarter mile way with no intentions of going further. Gee maybe Mr Wizard Obama wave his magic ink pen and give me high speed service. /extreme sarcasm
Sure looks like one! Edison must have ‘chawed tobakky’!..........
ooooo, Electra! So you had a powered typewriter! Leading edge! :-) Careful, you could be dating yourself too well!
I'm going to disagree with you on this one, Laz. If this is simply about defining what the term "broadband" means from an advertising/marketing standpoint, I'm good with this. I don't see anything here forcing the providers to change what they're offering, just a requirement that "broadband" actually means something, and things that offer less shouldn't use the term.
On my idle farm outside of “small town”, MN, last year, they pulled in fiber, for free! But not where I currently live, in a populated area. :-)
No, they're not saying that. They're saying if you want to market something as "broadband", it needs to be at least 25. They're perfectly free to sell you the 6 as long as they don't advertise it as "broadband".
That’ll hold for 6 months or maybe a year. Then you’ll be hearing from the FCC that your bandwidth is too low and you need to upgrade. It’s all part of the communist plot to take over the US. It was written into Federal Register by Congressman A. S. Herlong on January 10, 1963.
It is useless to resist. You really need 25.
I handle video streaming, web browsing, and digital purchases all on the same computer out of two in the house, with little lag, and that is on Comcast at 8mbps
It reminds me of the advertising pitch that screens for TVs keep having higher and higher resolutions per square inch or square cm
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