OTI and Access Now Urge the FCC to Conduct Accurate Analysis of Broadband Availability

Today, New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and Access Now filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) making a range of policy recommendations to ensure the FCC conducts an accurate assessment of broadband availability in the United States. The FCC’s annual Section 706 review is essential to the agency’s ability to close the digital divide, and critical to informing lawmakers and the public on the status of broadband availability and access. The FCC is required by law to publish this report to ensure that all Americans receive advanced telecommunications capability—which today includes high-speed broadband—in a “reasonable and timely fashion.” OTI and Access Now urge the FCC, specifically, to 1) find that mobile broadband is a complement to fixed broadband, not a substitute for it as the agency has found in the past; 2) ensure that its analysis of broadband availability is not dependent on its flawed Form 477 data; 3) consider affordability as part of its Section 706 report, because affordability has a significant impact on broadband availability; and 4) increase the threshold for what the FCC defines as high-speed broadband.

The following quote can be attributed to Amir Nasr, policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“It is crucial that the FCC gets the Section 706 report right, as millions of Americans do not have high-speed broadband access and the agency cannot remedy this digital divide without a detailed understanding of the problem. An accurate depiction of broadband availability in the country is necessary for lawmakers at the federal and local level to draft policies that catalyze both broadband adoption and the economic and societal benefits that come with it. If broadband is not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely manner, it is paramount that the FCC catch the issues that perpetuate the digital divide and adopt policies to address those problems. To that end, OTI urges the FCC to conduct a robust analysis of broadband availability to ensure the agency’s conclusions reflect reality.”

The following quote can be attributed to Eric Null, U.S. Policy Manager at Access Now:

“This proceeding is supposed to give the FCC the opportunity to study, reflect on, and take action to improve the U.S. broadband market, yet it continues to largely skate by on prior conclusions based on flawed data. The benefits of high-speed broadband are too crucial to leave anyone behind, and the longer the FCC relies on a rosy picture of broadband competition, the longer people from marginalized groups will have to wait for broadband.”