US Lags in All Measures of Broadband, FCC's Copps Says

By Glenn Fleishman

One of two Democrats on the FCC board, Copps says we’re laughably behind: Estonia, a forward-thinking country, beats us in the “digital opportunity” index at position 20, and we’re 15th worldwide in overall broadband penetration. Copps nails one of the ways in which the FCC avoids facing reality: “The FCC still defines broadband as 200 kilobits per second, assumes that if one person in a Zip code area has access to broadband then everyone does and fails to gather any data on pricing.” I’ve complained about this before in the debate over whether municipalities have any role in owning, fostering, or discouraging city-wide networks. Opponents to certain forms of municipal involvement will say things like DSL penetration in the US is over 95 percent. But they’re using the one-line-per-Zip-code measure.

He issues a call to arms, which might stick with the shift in control of the House and apparently Senate: “We must start meeting our legislative mandate to get advanced telecommunications out to all Americans at reasonable prices; make new licensed and unlicensed spectrum available; authorize “smart radios” that use spectrum more efficiently; and do a better job of encouraging “third pipe” technologies such as wireless and broadband over power lines.”