Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler finally broke his silence on whether the American broadband industry is competitive enough, saying "meaningful competition for high-speed wired broadband is lacking" in the American market.
In a speech delivered at 1776, a Washington D.C.-based technology incubator, Wheeler said that less than one-fourth of all American households have access to two or more providers offering a minimum broadband speed of 25 Mbps, what Wheeler says is "table stakes" speed in the 21st century.
Currently, the FCC defines broadband as an Internet connection of at least 4 Mbps, which, Wheeler says, is "yesterday's broadband." The FCC chairman says the commission is working on the minimum speed to 10 Mbps, but even that is not enough to supply the rapidly growing demand for faster broadband. In today's households, it is not uncommon to find at least six devices connected to the Internet, with bandwidth-heavy activities such as video and audio streaming and downloading taking place majority of the time. With the growing adoption of broadband in healthcare and education settings, America will need more than 25 Mbps as a minimum.
"Today, a majority of American homes have access to 100 Mbps," the chairman said [pdf]. "It is that kind of bandwidth that we should be pointing to as we move further into the 21st century. And while it's good that a majority of American homes have access to 100 Mbps, it is not acceptable that more than 40 percent do not."
Wheeler promised that the FCC will promote competition where it exists and create competition where it doesn't. Specifically, he said that the FCC will work to prevent the approval of mergers that will remove competition, a statement that is sure to rub Comcast, which is setting its sights on a $42.5 billion acquisition of Time-Warner Cable, the wrong way. If approved, the Comcast-Time-Warner Cable merger would combine America's largest and second largest broadband services provider, giving Comcast more than a good 50% of the entire market share.
The commissioner also said that the FCC will encourage access to low-band spectrum in the Broadcast Incentive Auction to ensure that "the Internet remains free from barriers erected by last-mile providers," or providers that deliver Internet services to the end-consumer. The new policy could get AT&T and Verizon Wireless in trouble since the two providers have sought for more favorable rules in the spectrum auction. Both companies have also expressed their concern over local municipalities building their own community broadband networks, a move that the FCC also vows to support.
Wheeler also praised Google's efforts to bring 1 Gbps broadband services in select localities and is happy to see AT&T following suit, although he noted that AT&T's own 1 Gbps broadband is only available in markets where Google has deployed its Fiber broadband service.
"Since my first day as Chairman of the FCC, my mantra has been consistent and concise: 'Competition, Competition, Competition,'" Wheeler said.
