AACG Telecom Expert Provides Comments in the FCC’s Broadband Progress Proceeding

Dr. Timothy Tardiff filed Reply Comments with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), demonstrating the number of firms offering broadband Internet has grown substantially since the previous FCC Broadband Progress Report. Due to significant changes in how the FCC has measured broadband over time, AACG produces consistent measures of broadband availability that identify the growth in the number of broadband providers at different speed levels. The rate of growth in the number of broadband providers is a key measure used by Internet policy makers, legislators and regulators to assess the extent of broadband competition.

AACG economist, Dr. Timothy Tardiff, provided these findings in response to the Notice of Inquiry in the proceeding in which the FCC is assessing whether advanced telecommunications capability is being provided to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. Dr. Tardiff updated previously published articles by AACG to include the FCC’s most recent (June 2017) fixed broadband deployment data. The updated analysis reveals substantial growth in broadband availability since 2013 at the 25 Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream speed level, likely attributable to a modest increase in the number of providers at lower speed levels and an upgrade in the offerings of existing providers from lower speed levels.  Dr. Tardiff’s Reply Comments can be found at aacg.com/net-neutrality.

Read More: Dr. Tardiff’s Comments in the FCC’s Broadband Progress Proceeding