Broadband Stimulus Definitions Debated in Public Hearing

A one size fits all definition of what constitutes broadband doesn’t make sense, said Stagg Newman, consultant and former FCC chief technologist. Unlike voice telephony, “where we knew what we were talking about…, broadband is fuzzily talked about and supports a very wide variety of services… My needs when I have a BlackBerry, versus somebody else’s needs in front of a high definition television set, are very different.”

Still, NTIA and RUS must include some definitions in their rules, Newman said. “We need a clear definition of what is a service that consumers, enterprises, government agencies will see,” Newman said. “We need a definition of what is acceptable network infrastructure that enables these services, and then we need a series of metrics to know whether we've got it or not.

Mark Lloyd, vice president, strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the arbitrary distinctions the FCC used in the past to define broadband has worked against making the U.S. more competitive with the rest of the world. “I would encourage NTIA and RUS to focus on hard speeds that truly achieve broadband service for all Americans,” he said. “I would suggest getting a group of computer engineers together… and they should decide what speeds would be necessary for all Americans, regardless of geography, to originate and receive high quality voice, data, graphics and telecommunications services using any technology.”

Trying to establish minimum speeds is like trying to hit a moving target, said Dave Malfara, CEO of ETC Group, representing CompTel. “The speed that we believe now would be sufficient to promote broadband ubiquity for deployment may be antiquated by something that is introduced next week.” While speed can be a factor in picking grant winners “it shouldn’t be a limitation on eligibility,” he said.

“The capability of broadband and IP applications is constantly developing,” said Dan Mitchell, vice president at NTCA. “The definition therefore must evolve to meet consumer, business, education, public health and safety needs. By linking this definition to generally available services.”

“Speed matters,” said John Rose, president of OPASTCO. “If you have higher speeds, you have more content, you have a higher take rate and take rate is important.”

Panelists on a second roundtable debated how broadly to set the definition of “underserved.” Some called for a speed-based definition, while others urged agencies to consider geographic and socioeconomic factors.

Agencies should take a “holistic” look at applications, rather than judge them based on one category, said Mark Richert, public policy director for the American Foundation for the Blind. Agencies should be willing to experiment, rather than pick one type of technology, user or service provider, said Joanne Hovis, a board member of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors. For example, agencies shouldn’t reject projects that could inexpensively bring faster-than-DSL speeds just because the area is already served with DSL, she said.

Agencies should look to states to assess whether areas are unserved or underserved, said Betty Ann Kane, chair of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ definition of an unserved area is one where there is no facilities-based Internet other than dial-up or satellite, she said. The definition of underserved varies from state to state; some states use geographic criteria while others look at demographics like poverty, she said.

Definitions of unserved and underserved should be simple and generally based on speed, said Matthew Polka, president of the American Cable Association. ACA believes unserved means a census tract where 50 percent of households get maximum speeds of about 3 Mbps downstream and 5 kbps upstream, he said. Underserved should be a census tract in which that same proportion of households can’t get 3-5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, he said.

Using speed to define underserved won’t help the U.S.’s global speed ranking, said Hovis. “The international standard broadband is so far beyond many of the speed definitions that have been proposed until now, that we really risk conceding to the rest of the world that we are satisfied to be number 17,” she said.

Money should go to all types of geographic areas, panelists said. Rural, urban and everything in between should have the same access to broadband, said Cheryl Johns, assistant chief counsel of telecommunications in the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. There are often pockets of underserved people in served urban areas, Kane said. An area with infrastructure may still be underserved if the broadband isn’t affordable, said Marian Urquilla, director of Human Development for Living Cities. An urban area may also be underserved if the people there don’t understand how they can benefit from broadband, said Allen Hammond, a professor representing the Minority Media Telecom Council.

A third panel examined how the programs should define unserved areas, which will likely be the target of most grant money. Even here, definitions can be tricky, speakers said.

Joycelyn Tate, representing the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, said the agencies need better, more granular data to make decisions about how to classify areas. “More granular mapping data is needed to truly and accurately determine the rural areas in which broadband is lacking in order to increase service and adoption,” she said. Tate said it’s a “misnomer” to believe that all unserved populations are in rural areas. “Many unserved communities are in urban areas where broadband service is the highest,” she said.

Satellite broadband has 800,000 subscribers in the U.S. and no one in the nation truly has no service available, said Dean Manson, general counsel Hughes Communications. “Cost can get in the way of a consumer’s practical access to broadband,” he said, particularly the upfront cost of equipment such as a satellite dish and other in-home end user equipment.

More and better broadband would enhance science and healthcare in the U.S., said Mayor Sara Pressler at Wednesday’s public hearing in Flagstaff, Arizona. For example, right now an anthrax doctor in the area is facing major obstacles communicating his research, she said. It’s faster for him to drive 120 miles to Phoenix than send the data over the Internet, she said. Broadband could greatly improve education in the state, said Fred Estrella, chief information officer of Northern Arizona University. Online courses save students time and money, and allow colleges to broadcast to people far away, but high bandwidth is required for the video technology involved, he said.

Broadband funds mustn’t leave out tribal lands, wide and little populated areas not conducive to broadband investment, several panelists said. Hopi Telecommunications has been trying to replace copper with fiber, but progress has been slow because of the costs involved, said Carroll Onsae, general manager. “The Hopi reservation economy is in dire straits,” he said. “To offer these services at prices that our customers can afford is a real challenge.”

American Indian society has been held back by the lack of broadband, said Loris Ann Taylor, executive director of Native Public Media. “We have to ask ourselves whose country is it when so many people are left out?” The NTIA and RUS should consult with tribes in a fashion “parallel” to the way they consult with states, she urged. Doing so will ensure new broadband systems “will actually serve tribal needs,” she said.

One audience member from an Arizona tribe said he’s skeptical federal funds will help. “Look at my white hair,” he said. “During my lifetime I've seen a lot of these nice wonderful programs come in … They always get strangled by rules and regulations.”