If the FCC Abolishes America’s 1 Gig Goal for Broadband Speed, in 10 Years, We Will be the Equivalent of Tin Cans and Rabbit Ears.
IMPORTANT:
- According to Google AI, a standard 4K conferencing service uses at least 25Mbps per connection, and this speed would be required in each direction. I.e., every speed we discuss below for wireless or satellite would not be able to handle the speed to be able to participate in both directions. And this is 2025, not 10 years from now.
- The government “BEAD’ subsidies were supposed to be about infrastructure — actual wires to carry the large amounts of data — and as critical infrastructure it is supposed to last 20–40 years. It is not a paid service that is rented or worse government subsidized, which could run our at any time with this Administration.
Section 706 Advanced Network Reports have been a Farce: It has Gotten Worse.
The FCC has an obligation to create a report for Congress that informs the lawmakers of whether broadband services are being deployed in a timely manner to All Americans, known as Section 706.
In 1998 we filed in the first proceeding as New Networks Institute, and over the next 27 years we also filed as Teletruth and the IRREGULATORS over 50 times, resulting in over 5,100 pages in the Section 706 proceedings.
Read our “Refresh the Record” Comment filed Sept 8th, 2025.
In our 1998 comments we pointed out that in almost every state there were some
commitment to replace the existing copper wire with a fiber optic wire. State laws were changed to charge customers extra for these fiber optic upgrades and that the speed listed in 1993 in multiple states was 45 Mbps in both directions. So imagine our surprise that instead of investigating our claims — based on the actual state filings, the FCC set America’s broadband speed at 200Kbps 1/5 of 1Mbps — in one direction.
This was done so that the FCC‘s report to Congress would inflate the actual broadband lines in service and help the phone companies — who had failed to do the upgrade in each state.
The goal of 1Gig was established along the way based on the assumption that the companies commitments would be for fiber and that the goal of 1Gig would be reached in most of America by 2010–2015.
Fast forward to 2025. In a play by the FCC to give wireless and satellite companies large government subsidies for clearly inferior services, the FCC has proposed to abolish the 1Gig US goal for speed that could be delivered over a fiber optic wire, to 35 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up. this would not be for the building of infrastructure but paying for a monthly service — so at the end of the day, billions of dollars go, to make these companies wealthier with no obligations.
“ As part of our return to following the plain language of section 706, we propose to abolish without replacement the long-term goal of 1,000/500 Mbps established in the 2024 Report.
“Not only is a long-term goal not mentioned in section 706, but maintaining such a goal risks skewing the market by unnecessarily potentially picking technological winners and losers. It would also appear to violate our obligation to conduct our analysis in a technologically neutral manner. At present, it is impossible to predict long-term technological developments and the evolution of consumer preferences.
“Further, assuming a long-term goal of 1,000/500 Mbps may be unreasonably prejudicial to technologies such as satellite and fixed wireless that presently do not support such speeds. We believe it prudent to continue to monitor technological developments and consumer preferences and adapt our current benchmark, as well as relevant high-cost support programs, accordingly. Do commenters agree with our proposal and reasoning?”
“Further, assuming a long-term goal of 1,000/500 Mbps may be unreasonably prejudicial to technologies such as satellite and fixed wireless that presently do not support such speeds.”
IRREGULATORS position: This comment, laden with the stench of a sewer that has backed up, actually says that the high speed fiber services skew the data and could violate laws because it is not neutral.
Tom Allibone, President LTC Consulting, and Director of Audits, Teletruth, states “In all seriousness, this reduction of speed and lessening our critical speed standards, has America going backwards, We can not be a world leader when others who have followed out lead, are now leading the charge.”
Bruce Kushnick, New Networks Institute “For 27 years we pointed out that the ‘divide’ has been, in fact, created when the fiber optic networks, paid for by customers, was never fully deployed. Instead of actually investigating what happened to all of the supposed commitments and statements of a fiber optic future, this FCC flipped the storyline; the violation here is the failure to examine the material state and federal facts we presented.”
Thus, when the FCC claims that high speeds are “unreasonably prejudicial to technologies such as satellite and fixed wireless that presently do not support such speeds”….
This Agency that is supposed to close the Digital Divide and make sure America is ‘great again’, have failed us
From 1 Gig to a tin can we have this FCC quote:
“Additionally, the Commission presented other reported coverage data based on 5G-NR data at speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps in an in-vehicle mobile environment, 5G-NR data at speeds of at least 7/1 Mbps in both outdoor stationary and in-vehicle mobile environments, and 4G LTE at speeds of at least 5/1 Mbps in both outdoor stationary and in-vehicle mobile environments, which were also supplemented with on-the-ground mobile broadband speed-test data”
“13. We seek comment on whether we should continue to use this same multiple speed metrics approach for the next section 706 report. If so, should we continue to focus our main analysis on 5G-NR outdoor stationary coverage at speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps, or focus instead on 5G-NR in-vehicle mobile coverage at speeds of at least 35/3 Mbps? We also seek comment on whether we should continue to evaluate data for 5G-NR coverage at speeds of at least 7/1 Mbps in both outdoor stationary and in-vehicle mobile environments, and whether we should continue to include an analysis for 4G LTE coverage.”
IRREGULATORS position : At 35 Mbps down 5 up, the FCC is condemning rural areas to handicaps and shackles to innovation as well as getting the next series ot innovations that will appear — mainly overseas.
The current speeds are just fine.
There are many pundits who claim that we don’t need these faster speeds, but they are just based on history, techies will develop applications that require more and more bandwidth. — and new applications will sprout. Case in point — online services started with ‘modems’ that had 35–56kbps — Known as Dial-up, circa 1998, this could not handle video or streaming, all of which showed up once the bandwidth grew in America.
But what about 10 years from now?
Google AI, when asked of what speeds and capacity will America need to over the next 10 years. wrote:
“Today’s minimum requirement of 25 Mbps is already sufficient for streaming 4K content, but this will become an obsolete measure in 10 years. By 2035, the industry standard will likely be 1 Gbps or even 10 Gbps, with the focus shifting to higher resolutions like 8K and beyond.
“Why today’s 4K speed won’t matter in 10 years”
“While 25 Mbps is the recommended minimum for streaming a single 4K video, this doesn’t account for other factors that will make it insufficient in the future.
“Multiple devices: The average home will have more connected smart devices, which will increase network congestion. Today, streaming on multiple 4K devices already requires 50–100 Mbps for a buffer-free experience.
· Next-generation video quality: Future 4K content will incorporate technologies like high dynamic range (HDR) and higher frame rates (60fps) that demand more bandwidth.
· Inefficient Wi-Fi: Streaming 4K over older or unstable Wi-Fi connections can cause buffering and other issues. In the future, a wired or a powerful Wi-Fi 6 connection will be necessary to reliably stream next-generation 4K content.
The future of internet speed in 10 years
In the next decade, a standard 1 Gbps connection is expected to become commonplace, with 10 Gbps speeds available to early adopters. Several factors will drive the need for these massive speed increases:
· 8K resolution and beyond: As 8K displays become more affordable, the industry will need to accommodate the 80–100 Mbps required for a single 8K stream. Better video codecs like H.265 (HEVC) and AV1 will help, but data requirements will still be vastly higher than today’s 4K.
· Cloud computing and gaming: The rise of cloud-based applications and cloud gaming will require more bandwidth to deliver a seamless, low-latency experience. The industry will need faster upload speeds, which are currently lagging behind download speeds.
· Virtual and augmented reality: Future internet content won’t be confined to screens. Experiences involving augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will demand extremely high speeds and low latency to render seamless, three-dimensional digital content.
Conclusion: We have just refreshed the record to expose the factual history of fiber optic broadband in America and the failure of the FCC to hold the companies accountable for state-based commitments. Now, Chairman Carr’s plans to slow down America’s broadband speeds; just another failed plan waiting to happen that will make America be ‘not great’ … again.
