Consumers Need Greater Internet Access and Faster Broadband Speeds

Beckerman: “Access to high speed Internet service is not a luxury in today’s economy. It is a necessity. Policymakers must encourage broadband abundance and ensure high speed Internet service is deployed everywhere.”

Washington, D.C. – The Internet Association submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today calling on the agency to implement pro-consumer policies to bring faster and better broadband service to all Americans, promote competition and choice in the broadband market, and protect an open Internet.

“The Internet is an indispensable tool that is necessary to stay competitive globally, and the Commission has a mandate to ensure the deployment of advanced broadband services nationwide,” said Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of The Internet Association. “Access to high speed Internet service is not a luxury in today’s economy. It is a necessity. Policymakers must encourage broadband abundance and ensure high speed Internet service is deployed everywhere.”

The Internet Association urged the FCC to do all that it can to promote competition and remove barriers in the broadband marketplace: “The Commission should use the full weight of its authority to prevent any private or public entity from inhibiting the deployment of broadband networks or standing in the way of increased competition in providing these services.” The comments also ask the FCC to closely examine the use of restrictive data caps and interconnection requirements that “ration edge providers’ abilities to provide consumers with the data they have requested…”

In its comments, The Internet Association supports Chairman Wheeler’s position that consumers and content providers “have moved well beyond the current benchmark” of 4 Mbps, which “seems too slow to be worthy of the name ‘broadband.’ ”

The comments noted that increasing the benchmark for broadband speeds alone will not be enough to spur true broadband abundance. The Commission must also act to protect the “virtuous circle of innovation” in which new Internet applications, services, devices, and content increase the demand for advanced broadband. That increased demand drives network improvements, which in turn leads to further innovative network uses.

The full text of the Internet Association’s comments can be viewed here.

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