U.S. Needs Better and Expanded Broadband Measurement Efforts and Investment, NATOA Panelists Say

U.S. broadband measurement is lacking and offers only “binary” categories, said John Windhausen, director of the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition. He suggested the U.S. measure “broadband adoption at different tiers,” at one megabit, 10 and, for instance, “how many at 100 and how many at one gig.” The U.S. “ought to move away from looking at availability” due to the measurement’s potential for “misinterpretation,” he said.

The FCC is “trying to build measurement capability” into all broadband devices in one new project, said FCC Chief Technology Officer Henning Schulzrinne. Doing so will give “much broader indications into where broadband is really available,” he said. He recommended broadband data collection be as automated as possible to make it both easy and accurate. Google has engaged in similar measuring improvements, said Google Telecom Policy Counsel Aparna Sridhar. The consortium Measurement Lab, better known as M-Lab, which includes academic and industry partners, is a project Google has helped develop that “allows you to have a box and measure how fast your connection is,” she said. “And all that information eventually gets aggregated into the [FCC’s broadband] report.” Broadband measurement should acknowledge the “spectrum” of bandwidth, she agreed.

The future also calls for new considerations about how to expand broadband, panelists said. The country should consider including broadband into the very homes of U.S. residents, said Schulzrinne, who compared broadband technology to built-in utilities like the water and gas pipes. “Standard modes of operation” are needed and ones not completely dependent on government solutions, he said. The U.S. needs a “plan B” if government isn’t the one building out fiber, he said. As the U.S. telecom giants transition away from legacy networks, they shouldn’t abandon the traditional concepts of interoperability, said Schulzrinne.

U.S. efforts don’t quite compare to some other countries, panelists said. “Should we be concerned that the central governments in other countries -- Australia’s just one example -- are building fiber-to-the-home as a public matter?” NATOA President Joanne Hovis asked. “Is there anything we need to be concerned about?” Australia has invested about half a trillion dollars in buildouts compared to $7 billion in the U.S., she said. “Other countries are also moving ahead -- and moving ahead in some important ways,” said Schulzrinne. The amount of money the U.S. government devotes to broadband “is not enough,” said Windhausen. The federal government’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which gave billions in three-year grants devoted to broadband in 2010, is a promising start but not sufficient, he said. The country needs far more money to compete and further BTOP grants, he said. These grants helped connect about 10 to 15 percent of anchor institutions but many remain, he said. “We need more funding and we need more open access and interconnection,” he said. “Fiber is inherently expensive to lay.”

"There are incredible cultural benefits” to increasing speeds and data capability, argued Sridhar. With faster broadband, people would one day be able to conduct a teleconference “that feels like you're in the next room with someone,” she said. Such teleconferencing detail would potentially benefit doctors, teachers and other professionals who rely on close examination and nuance, she said: “The facial recognition and emotional connection that a true gig connection offers is totally different.” People in the U.S. need to talk about “how to make those benefits more concrete,” partly to foster enthusiasm and initiatives to expand those efforts, she said. “Videoconferencing should eventually be as easy as making a phone call,” said Windhausen.

Municipal fiber may play an important role here, Sridhar added. Local governments and states make good “laboratories for policy” and although not always the appropriate decision, government-run broadband sometimes makes sense, she said. That option also creates additional layers of meaning within a community, she said. “You're talking about your school, your kids, your cousins.” Affordability remains an obstacle, panelists said. Schulzrinne questioned how many people will be able to spend $70-80 a month on advanced broadband services. There may be two tiers of super-fast broadband and a Lifeline-like alternative in the future, he said.

Windhausen doubts all the U.S.’s broadband measurements are even accurate, he said, questioning recent figures cited by the FCC. Hovis doubts the measuring ability as well, she said. “Our data dramatically overstate the availability of broadband,” she said, noting this was her personal opinion. “We're in pretty constant dialogue with” the NTIA on its mapping efforts, Hovis said of NATOA. She credited NTIA with its frankness about improving inaccuracies in its national broadband mapping.