Background: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved its first report in four years on the deployment of broadband, and said it would collect more detailed information on the deployment of broadband. The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“The Commission today presented a mixed message to the public. On one hand, the Commission issued another report finding that broadband deployment in the U.S. was proceeding in a “reasonable and timely” fashion. As Commissioners Copps and Adelstein pointed out, the report is based on faulty and incomplete information and so does not present a true picture of broadband deployment.
“It is a mystery why the Commission chose to issue this report when, mere moments later, the Commission admitted the inadequacy of the information by starting the process to update the data collection on broadband. The Commission should be commended for recognizing the need to change long-outdated definition of broadband it had been using, and for starting the process to collect much more detailed information about broadband capabilities and deployment. It is unfortunate that information about the residential market is not separated from the commercial, and that information on pricing was put off to a further proceeding.
“While it contemplates its new data collection, The Commission should also consider making its information available to the public on a more frequent basis than the twice-yearly reports it issues now.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.