PROJECTS :: LETTERS TO THOSE IN CHARGE :: COMMENT ON FCC'S NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN NOTICE OF INQUIRY - DOCKET 09-51

---

Dear FCC,

Please define "broadband" in terms of speeds actually delivered, rather than what is advertised.

Any modern, complex system is only as fast as its slowest part, just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. To allow agencies or companies to say that a system delivers 8 Mbps, for instance, when that system only has such capacity from server to server and ultimately directs, say, a mere 1 Mbps to a consumer, is not only misleading, but also morally, ethically, and logically wrong.

The fact that this very Web form failed to load entirely the first time I visited provides a good demonstration of what can go wrong when consumers are misled with regard to bandwidth. The broadband connection I'm currently using, once split off to more than two dozen different computers, does not deliver anywhere near the capacity to individual users that it purports to in aggregate. The same principles hold true for large consumer networks.

In order for consumers, businesses, and even the government itself to make informed choices about their Internet access (where such choice is available, that is) and get the best value for the money, the conversation about broadband capacity must be clarified and couched in the most accurate terms possible.

We wouldn't allow any other public utility, whether the gas company or the electric company, to get away with providing lower capacity than advertised. Why would Internet service providers receive any less scrutiny?

Best,

M.J. Bauer

(With thanks to Daniel Moore for providing the initial letter upon which this was based.)