In a report recently released from the Federal Communications Commission, the agency shares the data it compiled to determine the 4 Mb/s minimum broadband speed recommended in the National Broadband Plan.
According to the agency, the average (mean and median) advertised download speed for U.S. residential
consumers is 7-8 Mb/s. But the mean actual speed consumers received was approximately 4 Mb/s and the
median actual speed was approximately 3 Mb/s.
The report also notes that U.S. Internet users generally fit one of four profiles. These range from utility
users who use the Internet primarily for basic news, communication and basic entertainment to advanced
users who consume large amounts of data and tend to use the highest quality voice video and other cutting
edge applications to. In between are “full media” users who are moderately heavy users of broadband and
who use high-quality voice, data, graphics and video, and “emerging multimedia” users who use some
video and graphical content but see the Internet primarily as a way to communicate and access news and
entertainment.
According to the executive summary, “80% of broadband use falls into three of these profiles, which
require actual download speeds of no more than 4 Mb/s.” The report adds that the 4 Mb/s target
is “intended to be a minimum level of service; it is not a limit on what speeds can be deployed.”
The report’s data about actual speeds was gathered by comScore from 200,000 machines representing a
cross-section of the U.S. Internet population, the report authors said.
The 4 Mb/s benchmark has created significant controversy within the industry. Many rural telecom advocates argue that the benchmark is inadequate for rural America, especially considering there appears to be a goal of 100 Mb/s for urban markets. Even with the FCC’s explanation, the 4 Mb/s benchmark does seem relatively low, given the insatiable demand for broadband services from urban and rural customers alike.
Like this post? Sign up for our RSS Feed, and/or Twitter
Categories: Broadband, FCC, National Broadband Plan
