WISPA Pushes Back on Calls for Symmetrical Gigabit Broadband Standard

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2024 – Amid growing calls to raise the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband speed benchmark, major industry groups have urged the FCC to hold steady at the 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) * 20 Mbps standard it adopted just this year.

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, backed by support from industry heavyweights like CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom, and the Wireless Infrastructure Association, argued that raising the benchmark now, or setting decade-long projections, could be disconnected from actual broadband needs and inconsistent with federal policy.

“The [FCC] should reject. . .assertions that it should ignore precedent, the directives of Section 706, and the documented preferences of consumers to set benchmarks for advanced communications that are inconsistent with current broadband usage or that attempt to establish a priori standards extending many years into the future,” WISPA’s filing submitted by vice president of policy Louis Peraertz stated.