Major ISPs Seek To Lower Broadband Definition

denobug sends word that major internet service providers in the US are seeking to redefine the term 'Broadband' to mean a much lower speed than in other developed nations. In recent filings with the FCC, Comcast and AT&T both came out in support of a reduced minimum speed. 'AT&T said regulators should keep in mind that not all applications like voice over internet protocol (VoIP) or streaming video, that require faster speeds, are necessarily needed by unserved Americans.' On the other hand, Verizon argued to maintain the status quo, saying that 'It would be disruptive and introduce confusion if the commission were to now create a new and different definition.' A public interest group called Free Press also filed comments with the FCC, recommending that the bar should be set significantly higher, and evolve in a way that corresponds with technological improvements.

Comments

Re:Broadband is technology not speed

[commodore64_love]

>>>"Wikipedia defines broadband's speed... as 56,000 bits per second."
>>>"Wouldn't that be 57,344 bits per second?"
>>>"56k modems [uses multiple frequencies] so they are broadband"

Oh brother. It's like the blind leading the blind. Not that I'm any great expert, but ye slashdot engineers really should know this stuff better than that!

56 k == 56000 bit/s because "kilo" is defined using base 10 technology. And yes modems can reach those speeds outside of the U.S. zone. Inside the U.S. they are limited to 53,300 maximum because the FCC wanted to prevent crosstalk between wires. My connection routinely always gets 53.3 k and probably could get 56k if the speed limit were lifted. The lowest speed I've ever seen with my current modem is 19k while traveling in Michigan (horribly noisy hotel lines).

48k == Maximum upload speed over telephone lines.

narrowband == confined to a "narrow band" of frequencies. While the definition of "narrow" is arbitrary, traditionally it is 8 kilohertz from the over-100-year-old telephone technology. Therefore any technology wider than 8 is technically broadband, although in most cases like DSL it's 100 kilohertz or higher.