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FCC Revises Broadband Penetration Metrics

Posted by kdawson on from the end-of-a-long-running-joke dept.

joelt49 writes "Ars Technica reports that the FCC has revised its broadband penetration metric. Previously, if only one subscriber in a zip code received connectivity at 200 Kbps, then the entire zip code was considered to have broadband access. Now, the FCC will count the number of subscribers in census tracts. The FCC has also revised its definition of broadband; previously, it was anything over 200 Kbps. Now, speeds between 200 and 768 Kbps are considered 'First-Generation' broadband, and speeds up to 1.5 Mbps are considered 'Basic' broadband." Unfortunately, the FCC has decided to keep all this new data to themselves.

4 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Re:How can they keep this secret? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you had to change your penetration metrics, would you advertise it? What if the change in metrics show that you cannot penetrate as far, or for as long as you used to? What if they show that you don't penetrate as much as your European or, worse, Asian counterparts?

    No, this is very much justified.

  2. Re:How can they keep this secret? by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, but I think they have pills you can take for that now.

  3. STOP by Rezonant · · Score: 5, Funny
    PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME OF US ARE STILL ON TLGRPH STOP YOU INSENSITIVE CLODS STOP

    (yeah yeah. lameness filter. yeah yeah.) Some more antilameness filter. And some more. There is also the issue of the antilameness filter. It really sucks.

  4. Re:How can they keep this secret? by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I ask why the federal government needs to provide such information. Why can't Joe Blow find this information out on his own
    Because the government is the people. Joe Blow did find this information - he paid the government to do it. "The government" doesn't pay for anything, the people do. Unless there's a compelling national security reason to keep it secret, the data belongs to the people and should be made available to them. You can argue the FCC shouldn't have compiled this data. But once they do compile it, it rightfully belongs to the people.