Gomez Wary of FCC’s Deployment Inquiry
The agency is proposing to scrap assessments of broadband affordability and adoption.
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2025 – Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez voted to move forward with the agency’s inquiry into broadband deployment in the U.S., but she has some reservations about it.
The unanimously adopted inquiry would propose scrapping recently added sections of the agency’s annual deployment report related to broadband affordability and adoption, and sticking to the question of whether progress was being made on deploying infrastructure.
“While I have concerns over the potential change of direction this FCC may soon take in how we fulfill our obligation to provide a clear and accurate picture of broadband availability in this country, I still supported the Notice of Inquiry so the public can weigh in on this issue,” she said at an agency press conference Thursday.
The item was scheduled for consideration at the agency’s meeting Thursday but was adopted with other unanimous items beforehand on Tuesday.
“How we measure this country’s progress of connecting everyone, everywhere to the number one tool to participate in modern day life is important, and we should not retreat from the bold and forward-looking vision this agency had previously embraced,” she said.
The agency conducts the review annually under section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which tasks the agency with assessing whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”
A public draft of the notice said the planned return to the incremental deployment progress standard was what the language of the law required, something Gomez disputed Thursday. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the time, dissented from the 2024 report, which instituted the adoption and affordability assessments, in part because of the issue.
He also opposed the 100 * 20 megabits per second speed benchmark that the agency used for the first time to define broadband and a long-term goal the agency set for 1 gigabit per second download speeds. The adopted inquiry would ultimately propose to stick with the 100 * 20 Mbps standard, but would ditch the long term goal.
Consumer advocates had asked the agency not to move forward with the inquiry, saying future policy interventions aiming to promote broadband use would be better informed if the FCC continued collecting more information about barriers to broadband adoption.
Gomez noted that funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program lapsed last year, ending a monthly internet subsidy with 23 million participating low-income households.
“For that reason, I am glad we were successful in seeking public input on whether broadband can truly be considered available if it isn’t affordable, and I look forward to that record,” she said.
Member discussion