FBA Urges FCC to Set Higher Broadband Speeds as AI Expands
The association is asking the FCC to reevaluate internet speed requirements in light of AI’s expansion.
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2026 – Gary Bolton, Chief Executive Officer of the Fiber Broadband Association, is emphasizing the need for higher-speed internet across the U.S. as artificial intelligence expands.
In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on June 26, the company explained that AI is rapidly reshaping the patterns of fixed broadband network traffic patterns and infrastructure requirements, so the FCC needs to redefine requirements for high-speed internet.
Due to AI expansion, the trade association is compelling the FCC to reorient its definition of “advanced telecommunications capability” in future Section 706 Reports. These reports help the FCC determine the state of high-speed internet across the U.S. and analyze whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed on a reasonable timeline.
“While these shifts in network demand may appear technical, they will cause all providers to upgrade the capabilities of their networks exponentially and undertake that work immediately,” said Bolton in the letter. He explained that the U.S. is entering into an explosive era of network investment mainly in fiber and analysis that requires a redefinition.
Previously, communications networks have been optimized mainly for “north-south” traffic, meaning the data flows between end users and centralized applications. AI has changed this, increasing “east-west” traffic, as data moves among computing locations, data centers, cloud environments and GPU clusters.
In the letter, Bolton explained, “The growth of AI will significantly increase not only the need for additional network capacity but also the importance of ultra-low latency. Many AI applications – including distributed model training, real-time inference, autonomous systems and multi-agent collaboration– depend on near-instantaneous communications.”
He noted that ensuring abundant bandwidth and consistent low latency will be crucial to the U.S. maintaining leadership in complex communications infrastructure and to support the next generation of AI-enabled services.
Last August, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr proposed narrowing the scope of the Section 706 inquiry to scrap affordability and adoption measures and reduce the broadband benchmark for internet speeds. The FBA opposed slower speeds, urging the FCC to set gigabit symmetric broadband standards to meet the growing demand for higher speeds.
