Complaint:

The FCC’s 200K Definition of Broadband Harms America’s Digital Future: America’s Video Barrier.

FCC is Violating the Statutory Requirements Under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 --- High-Quality Video in Both Directions.

Details: Comments: FCC Proposed Cable Franchise & FCC Chairman Martin's Speech. http://www.newnetworks.com/summaryfranchise.htm

Chairman market writes:

 “The Commission has noted that telephone company entry into the video marketplace has the potential to advance both the goals of broadband deployment and video competition.”

COMPLAINT: The FCC is violating the statutory requirements under section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 because it has defined broadband as 200K in one direction – a speed that can not originate and receive high-quality video. Moreover, the definition the FCC has accepted contradicts the definition of broadband used by state laws since 1992 – 45mbps capable of high-definition video.

Without the proper definitions in place, the FCC has presented a distorted, biased, and inaccurate picture of broadband in America. Tied to the definition, the FCC has neglected to properly examine the entire history of fiber optic broadband and has covered over the fact advanced networks were not deployed in a timely and reasonable fashion.

Obviously by redefining broadband, the FCC has been able to include inferior services to bulk up their ‘broadband penetration’ numbers to the detriment of the American economy. Had the FCC used the actual definition of broadband, it would have highlighted how America’s phone companies had been able to pull a bait-and-switch – selling DSL over copper wiring as America’s standard---A service that was considered inferior in 1992 because it can not handle high-definition video signals.

We are requesting that the FCC immediately open a proceeding to receive input fixing the FCC’s definition.

1) The FCC has defines broadband as 200K in one direction – 1/5 of the speed of 1 mbps. From the Section 706 Fourth report:  http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/706.html

“The FCC retains its existing definition of advanced telecommunications capability for purposes of this report.  The terms “advanced telecommunications capability” and “advanced services” are used to describe services and facilities with an upstream (customer-to-provider) and downstream (provider-to-customer) of 200 kilobits per second (kbps) or greater.  The term “high speed” is used to describe services with more than 200 kbps capability in at least one direction. “

This definition fails to meet the statutory requirement of the Telecommunications Act, Section 706, which defines broadband as the ability to offer high-quality video in both directions --- Video the operative word.

2) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 states that advanced telecommunications is defined as being able to “originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications”.

SEC. 706. ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS INCENTIVES.

(c) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this subsection: (1) ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY- The term `advanced telecommunications capability' is defined, without regard to any transmission media or technology, as high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.

http://www.newnetworks.com/FCCfilings.html#706

This is as compared to the definition of most state laws, which defined broadband as capable of  “(45mps) and higher… that will allow residential and business customers to receive high definition video and to send and receive interactive (i.e., two way) video signals.” "NJ state law written 1993)

"Broadband Digital Service — Switching capabilities matched with transmission capabilities supporting data rates up to 45,000,000 bits per second  (45mps) and higher, which enables services, for example, that will allow residential and business customers to receive high definition video and to send and receive interactive (i.e., two way) video signals."

Section 706 of the Telecom Act required the FCC to see if advanced telecommunications capability was being deployed on a timely basis.

SEC. 706. ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS INCENTIVES.

 (b) INQUIRY- The Commission shall, within 30 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and regularly thereafter, initiate a notice of inquiry concerning the availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms) and shall complete the inquiry within 180 days after its initiation. In the inquiry, the Commission shall determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. If the Commission's determination is negative, it shall take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.

3) Failure to properly track advanced capabilities happened on multiple levels.

 The FCC has not taken this definition seriously. It is now using a sub-standard definition of broadband, 200K in one direction to inflate the broadband numbers.  This definitional redo has had dire consequences on America’s broadband. We are currently 15th in broadband because the standard by which we judge broadband has essentially cost us a generation of economic technological growth.

According to an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle , “The Internet accelerates while U.S. trails behind”,  by Charles H. Giancarlo of Cisco, Thursday, December 14, 2006, other the international organization, OECD, has defined broadband as faster than 1.5 mbps.

“According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States is no better than middle-of-the-pack regarding the availability of broadband network access. "Broadband" is loosely defined as any high-speed network connection typically faster than 1.5 megabits per second….” 

Korea, Japan and other Asian countries are already deploying 100 Mbps in both directions for about $40. Thus, 200Kbps is 500 times slower than what is already available in Asia. (Most US customers' DSL is less than 1 mbps which is about the same price as Asia and is 100 times slower.)  

As Teletruth has pointed out multiple times, the FCC has failed to examine the “timely and reasonable’ deployment of advanced networks, which is defined as “originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.”

If the FCC examined this criteria as laid out by the Telecom Act of 1996, if would find that the US has less than 1 million fiber optic services capable of this standard.  AT&T, Verizon, BellSouth, Qwest and the other incumbents have both been allowed ignore this critical difference – HD quality video in both directions.

Worse, the Bells’ current plans still fall short of the commitments and standards they had promised in 1992!  By 2006, America should have had 86 million households rewired with fiber to the home.

Current law in New Jersey is Commitments for 80% to be done by 2006, 100%, by 2010.http://www.newnetworks.com/OpportunityNewJerseyFiber.htm

Pacific Bell was to have 5.5 million homes by 2000. http://www.newnetworks.com/cabroadbandpacbell.htm  

Had the previous administrations’ of the FCC administered the definition of broadband as defined in the Telecom Act, America would have had a bar to reach. Now we have a dump-all definition that helps only the phone companies who haven’t deployed.

In another adjacent complaint we outline the FCC’s Second Video Competition report in 1995, outlines millions of households that should have been rewired.

http://www.teletruth.org/docs/FCCvideocompetition1995.doc

We can not blame this current administration for the mistakes of the past --- i.e., that the FCC ignored thousands of documents to claim that deployment was being doing in a timely and reasonable manner. But it is now time to move America into the 21st century. Having both accurate data as well as fixing the definitional underpinnings is essential.