FCC’s Wheeler to NATOA: The Broadband Speed Times Need A Changin'

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Federal Communications Commission Chairman suggested that the country needed to start swimming together toward robust broadband or it will sink like a low-speed stone.

He was speaking to the annual conference of the National Association of Telecommunications Officer and Advisors in St. Paul (MN). He reiterated that speed is of the essence. "Table stakes for the 21st century is 25 Mbps," he said, "and winning the game means that all consumers can get at least 100 Mbps – and more." One way to do that, he said, was by combatting the forces he suggested were undercutting that effort. He did not say incumbent commercial ISPs, but he certainly appeared to be referencing, in part, the pushback on municipal Wi-Fi by state legislatures and the incumbents he has said are working to limit competition.

"NATOA and the FCC are swimming to the common goal of making sure that communities across America – large and small – have access to robust broadband networks that deliver the benefits of broadband connectivity to all citizens," he told the audience. "But you may have noticed that not everyone is swimming alongside that effort. There are those who seek to block the competitive forces that can produce faster, cheaper, better broadband; those who make it difficult to build out the infrastructure necessary for the broadband future; and those with which both you, and we have to contend that would use changes in technology as an excuse to sidestep the responsibilities network operators have always had to their users.”


FCC’s Wheeler to NATOA: The Broadband Speed Times Need A Changin'