FCC now Puts Broadband at 4Mbps in USA

As per the report of FCC on Tuesday, 24 million people do not have access to Broadband in USA. The commission further disclosed at its sixth annual report that between 14 and 24 million people in the country lack access to high-speed Internet, and immediate prospects for them to access the service is not very obvious. FCC also feels that there should be a revamp of universal Service Fund, new approaches to spectrum allocation, the removal of barriers to infrastructure investment, and better broadband data collection. This is not a new suggestion. The requirement to enhance the broadband is a long time demand.

“This is a minimum speed generally required for using today’s video-rich broadband applications and services, while retaining sufficient capacity for basic web browsing and e-mail,” the FCC said.

FCC also changed the definition of broadband. For years it was at 200 kbps for downstream. Now FCC puts it at 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. As per Tuesday’s report, 39 states have been identified  that have areas without broadband access. Those states that are not on that list are mainly in the Northeast that includes New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island.