Wireless Connectivity

The recent reports emerging from the Federal Communications Commission suggest that there's a long way yet to go before large portions of the United States have access to reliable, affordable broadband Internet access. But exactly what should be done in response to this report has left some officials within the commission itself at odds.

The report from the FCC (News - Alert) detailed that around 19 million Americans, largely in rural and tribal areas, lacked access to reliable broadband with speeds at least four Mbps or greater. Alternatives were mentioned, like the growing rise of mobile broadband networks, and the FCC also released an interactive map showing, firsthand, the layout of access by technology type and by region, showing market penetration for things like DSL, fixed wireline, cable and more.

But while Chairman Julius Genachowski (News - Alert) said in a statement that the Commission had put in place "landmark reforms" to help improve access, but needed to "...keep driving toward faster broadband and universal access", the support for Genachowski's plan wasn't unanimous.

Commissioner Robert M. McDowell countered Genachowski's statement, saying that development was already "swift and strong", and accused the committee of engaging in "mission creep", or over-stepping its bounds under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. McDowell further said that the reason broadband wasn't proliferating faster was in part due to "adoption issues" like "low service quality, affordability of broadband, lack of access to computers, lack of relevance and poor digital literacy". Further dissenting notes came from Ajit Pai, who said that, had mobile broadband been included, the number of Americans lacking connections would have dropped from 19 million to just 5.5 million.

Genachowski, for his part, acknowledged the importance of mobile broadband and recommended that mobile broadband figures be included in the next report, but also stressed the importance of carrying on, saying that "Every year consumers and businesses need higher speeds and more capacity to keep up, innovators need new test beds for the latest technologies, and our competitors around the world are pushing hard to gain a strategic advantage by deploying faster, higher-capacity broadband to their citizens."

Indeed, he's right on that front. While including things like mobile broadband and satellite Internet access is necessary for the truest overall picture, the temptation to call either of those connection methods "good enough" must be overcome. Satellite and mobile have extremely narrow usage capabilities, which often fall under names like "fair use policy" or the more widely-known "bandwidth cap". Indeed, the speeds on satellite and mobile are improving, but issues of latency and capacity still in many cases plague users. Exede's best plan, for example, runs $129.99 a month offering just 25 gigabytes of download for that month, though from midnight to 5 A.M., access doesn't count toward that total.

More bandwidth everywhere should be not only the watchword of the FCC, but for providers as well. Improvements in technology will take us a long way toward that goal, and the closer we get to it, the better off we all are as a society.

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