Rural Commenters Urge FCC to Adopt Higher Broadband Benchmarks

NRECA and NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association were among the industry groups calling for raising the FCC fixed broadband benchmark from current its current 100/20 Mbps benchmark. The groups filed comments earlier this week in the Commission’s annual Section 706 broadband inquiry. A decision on changes to the FCC benchmark could come in a later Section 706 report.

NRECA, in its comments, noted that a majority of its electric cooperative members offering broadband service offer a symmetrical 100 Mbps tier and that for many of them, 100/100 Mbps is “the very lowest speed tier they offer.”

“Consumer demand for upload speed is increasing much faster than consumer demand for download, and the number of ‘power users’ is expected to increase at an even faster rate,” NRECA said, referring to the recent NRTC/NRECA Rural Broadband Benchmarking Report finding that more than 50 percent of consumers subscribe to services faster than 475/475 Mbps. The association argued that the time has come where the FCC should consider symmetrical service inherent to the overall definition of “advanced services.”

NTCA’s comments cited similar studies to show that consumer demand is rapidly exceeding 100/20 Mbps, leading the association to quote Michelangelo Buonarroti: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Hitting a low, easy-to-achieve target could leave rural Americans without the connectivity needed to compete in the emerging environment of artificial intelligence, telework, telehealth, precision agriculture and other advanced functions.

In its Notice of Inquiry, the FCC noted that the 2024 Section 706 report defines “advanced services” for mobile providers as 5G-NR data speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps in an outdoor, stationary environment, and proposed to continue that benchmark. The Rural Wireless Association asks the Commission instead to advance the standard to 5G-NR 35/3 Mbps in an in-vehicle mobile environment. “The current reliance on an outdoor stationary environment overstates coverage and fails to account for real-world conditions that affect mobility such as terrain, foliage and weather that cause mobile signal degradation,” RWA said.

ACA Connects, which represents rural cable TV/broadband providers, commented on the current barriers to broadband construction in rural areas. It praised goals of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s Build America Agenda, but called for additional measures to cut red tape, especially policies to open access to utility poles. “When pole attachment barriers prove insurmountable, our members’ deployment projects are forced underground – often at many multiples the cost – or must be curtailed or scrapped entirely,” ACA said.

ACA also was concerned about state legislatures that are considering broadband rate regulation. “While a typical goal of such regulation is to make broadband more affordable for more consumers, it has the counterproductive effect of undermining business cases to expand and upgrade advanced networks, to the detriment of consumers at all income levels. These effects are most pronounced in costly-to-serve rural areas,” the association said.

Both NTCA and ACA complained that local permitting regulations for network rights of way are often costly and time-consuming. “NTCA members have experienced high and unpredictable fees, lengthy permitting delays, and additional burdens such as railroad crossing requirements, which together hinder timely and efficient rural broadband expansion,” the association said. It claimed the FCC has authority under the Communications Act to address “unreasonable fees and delays.”