Broadband & Sec 706

Sec. 706 is a release valve - or maybe a report card - built into the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Sec. 706 requires the FCC to report to Congress on whether advanced telecommunications services are being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely manner. If the FCC identifies problems, "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."

Pursuant to Sec. 706, the FCC has taken two primary actions. First, the FCC has engaged in a series of inquiries that have resulted in reports to Congress. Second, the FCC gathers data from telecommunications services on an ongoing basis and releases data reports to the public twice a year.

The methodology of the data collection is to determine whether a service provider has one broadband subscriber per zip code. If the answer is in the affirmative, then the FCC counts a broadband service provider in that zip code. This methodology has been widely criticized as over reporting broadband adoption. Nevertheless, the methodology has remained consistent over the years.

The Sec. 706 Reports have considered a wide range of issues:

• Prior to First Report
  • Before the First Inquiry was released, multiple parties petitioned the FCC both for regulatory relief as well as for open access.
• First Report
  FCC declined requests to impose Open Access obligations
  • Finds that, contrary to ILEC arguments, bandwidth in the Internet backbone is abundant
• Second Report
• Third Report
• Fourth Report
  • Unlike the other reports, the Fourth was a slick publication looking more like a corporate annual report than a government document, released at the close of the Powell Chairmanship
• Fifth Report (pending)

The FCC has released Inquiries reviewing both the state of broadband deployment and adoption, and the FCC's methodology for collecting this information.

Broadband Defined: "An initial step is thus to define what we mean by broadband service. The FCC has stated that 200 Kbps is “enough capacity to provide the most popular forms of broadband – to change web pages as fast as one can flip through the pages of a book and to transmit fullmotion video.” However true that may have been in 1999, that speed now is widely considered too slow. No consensus has yet emerged, however, as to the appropriate definition of broadband service. DSL services typically start at approximately 700 Kbps, and most emerging technologies, including wireless, are measured in megabits per second." FTC Staff Report 2007 p 99

The Federal Communications Commission today announces two proceedings focused on evaluating broadband deployment.

The first is a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into whether broadband services are being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. The second is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) exploring ways to collect information the Commission needs to set broadband policy in the future.

Both actions recognize the critical importance of broadband services to the nation's present and future prosperity.

The NOI is the fifth such inquiry conducted by the Commission under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires the Commission to determine whether broadband services are being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. Among the questions the Commission asks in the NOI is how to define broadband in light of the rapid technological changes occurring in the marketplace, including the development of higher speed services and new broadband platforms. The Commission will also focus on the availability of broadband, including in rural and other hard-to-serve areas; on whether consumers are adopting new services; and on the level of competition in the marketplace. The Commission asks what can be done to accelerate the rollout of broadband services, and seeks comment on current investment trends in the industry. The Commission also seeks comment on external data sources that shed light on broadband prices and the extent to which consumers have a choice of competing providers of broadband service in the United States, ideally on a house-by-house and business-by-business basis, as well as comparable data on speed, price, availability, and adoption in other countries.

4/16/07
Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry (FCC 07-21).
NOI: Word | Acrobat
Martin Statement: Word | Acrobat
Copps Statement: Word | Acrobat
Adelstein Statement: Word | Acrobat
Tate Statement: Word | Acrobat
McDowell Statement: Word | Acrobat

The NPRM seeks comment on whether to modify collection of speed tier information and how to improve the data collected about wireless broadband Internet access service. The NPRM also asks how the Commission can best collect information about subscribership to interconnected voice over Internet Protocol service, or VoIP. Finally, the NPRM also seeks comment on how the Commission can develop a more accurate picture of current broadband deployment (including by extrapolating from more accurate estimates of representative urban, metropolitan, urban, low-income, tribal, and rural areas), as well as gather information on price, other factors that affect consumer uptake of broadband services, and international comparisons.

Introduction

1) The Commission has consistently recognized the critical importance of broadband services to the nation's present and future prosperity and is committed to adopting policies to promote the development of broadband services, including broadband Internet access services. In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice), we seek comment about how the Commission can continue to acquire the information it needs to develop and maintain appropriate broadband policies. First, we seek comment about how the Commission can best ensure that it receives sufficient information about the availability and deployment of broadband services nationwide, particularly in rural and other hard-to-serve areas, including tribal lands. Second, we seek comment about how the Commission can improve the data about wireless broadband Internet access services that it currently collects on FCC Form 477. Third, we ask whether we should modify the speed tier information we currently collect. Fourth and finally, we seek comment about how the Commission can best collect information about subscribership to interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP) service. Information about broadband availability and deployment throughout the nation is essential to enable us to assess the success of our broadband policies in order to further discharge our statutory mandate, pursuant to section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to "encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all [Americans]." Improved information about subscribership to the new communications services that are enabled by the widespread availability, and consumer adoption, of end user broadband connections would enable us to better understand how subscriber choice among communications services is affecting the federal universal service fund, and will thereby assist us in discharging our statutory mandate to secure the viability of universal service. More generally, improved VoIP subscribership information would enable us to continue monitoring evolving competition for local telephone service customers. One of the major goals of Congress in enacting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was encouraging local telephone service competition.

2) Since 2000, broadband data collected pursuant to the FCC Form 477 data collection program have significantly helped the Commission and the public understand the extent of broadband deployment nationwide. The proposals discussed in this Notice would allow us to deepen and refine our current understanding of broadband availability and deployment, and would improve our understanding of the role of advanced wireless technologies in making broadband Internet access service available to all Americans. They also would provide us with improved data about subscribership to interconnected VoIP services. Although we recognize that additional data collection could impose an increased burden on reporting entities, in the event we decide to adopt additional data collection requirements, those requirements would be tailored to minimize costs imposed on the subject providers. We specifically solicit public comment about this balance between the burden of additional data collection and the benefits such information provides.

Proceeding Documents

4/16/07
FCC Begins Inquiries on Broadband Data and Broadband Deployment.
News Release: Word | Acrobat

4/16/07
Broadband Data Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 07-17).
NPRM: Word | Acrobat
Martin Statement: Word | Acrobat
Copps Statement: Word | Acrobat
Adelstein Statement: Word | Acrobat
Tate Statement: Word | Acrobat
McDowell Statement: Word | Acrobat

• Commerce Committee Approves Inouye Broadband Data Collection Bill, Senate 7/22/2007

 

4th Sec. 706 News

• FCC Begins Inquiries on Broadband Data and Broadband Deployment., FCC 4/18/2007
• Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry, FCC 4/18/2007
• FCC Launches Inquiry into Broadband Market Practices., FCC 4/18/2007
• FCC Realizes You Need Sound Data To Make Decisions - New notices will examine FCC data, broadband penetration, Broadband Reports 4/18/2007
• FCC to Investigate Broadband Deployment, eWeek 4/18/2007
• America Has Absolutely No Idea If Citizens Have Broadband, Broadband Reports 3/21/2007

Government Activity

• Take the Broadband Census!, Isen.blog 2/11/2008
• FCC Releases Data On High-Speed Services For Internet Access: High-Speed Connections to the Internet Increased by 22% in the First Half of 2007, FCC 3/20/2008
• FCC approves new method for tracking broadband's reach, CNET 3/20/2008
• FCC Releases Data on High Speed Services for Internet Access., FCC 2/1/2007
• Released: 01/14/2005. FCC ANNOUNCES ELECTRONIC POSTING OF FCC FORM 477 (LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING) FOR THE MARCH 1, 2005 FILING. (DA No. 05-81). WCB. Contact: James Eisner or Ellen Burton at (202) 418-0940, e-mail; James.Eisner@fcc.gov and Ellen.Burton@fcc.gov, TTY: (202) 418-0484, FCC 1/14/2005
• FCC Improves Data Collection to Monitor Nationwide Broadband Rollout., FCC 11/9/2004

Criticism of FCC Reports

• FCC Fudges its Broadband Report -- but finally gets one thing right!, Isen 2/6/2007
• FCC's Broadband Data Seriously Flawed says Teletruth, Gigabyte 7/26/2005
• Group Claims US Inflating Broadband Growth Figures, E Commerce Times 8/2/2005
• Watchdog groups snap at FCC study, Free Press 8/12/2005
• Watchdogs: FCC's b-band estimates are way off, Media Life Mag 8/12/2005

News

• Is There "Enough" Broadband Competition? And How High Is Up?, PK 2/6/2007