FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposes a US broadband standard of 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up; the proposal requires a vote in the currently deadlocked FCC
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica :
Context & Ripple Effects
The broadband benchmark has moved only once before: Tom Wheeler's 2015 proposal took the definition from 4/1Mbps to 25/3Mbps, and by early 2016 the FCC counted 34 million Americans without fixed access at that bar. In March 2021, a bipartisan group of senators pushed for 100/100Mbps, giving Rosenworcel political cover to propose 100/20Mbps now.
The catch is procedural: with the commission deadlocked, the proposal needs a vote that may not come. The arc resolves later — the FCC does raise the benchmark to 100/20Mbps in March 2024, making this 2022 proposal the opening move of that shift.
First-order effects
- Any ISP serving areas below 100/20Mbps would fall short of the federal 'broadband' label overnight, and the FCC's access-gap reporting would have to be recomputed against the higher bar rather than the 2015-era 25/3 standard.
Second-order effects
- Carriers whose networks top out near 25/3 face upgrade pressure, since falling below the benchmark weakens their standing in federal broadband funding and deployment arguments; the senators' earlier 100/100 letter signals which direction Congress wants the target set.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — one benchmark revision per commission era, roughly every seven to nine years — the definition of broadband becomes a recurring regulatory lever that forces periodic network reinvestment and reshapes which providers count as serving unserved areas.
The trend: US broadband policy is shifting from static speed definitions toward periodically ratcheted benchmarks that reclassify underperforming networks and redirect federal access funding.