Featured in this episode of Tech News of the Week
It has been nearly a decade since the FCC formally adopted the metric of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up as broadband internet, a standard that was hilariously outdated even at the time. The standard has become increasingly pathetic as the years have marched on, and Gigabit ethernet became increasingly available outside of major metropolitan areas. Hell, I live just shy of farm country and I get 1Gbps from Verizon FiOS.
FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed a new standard of 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up, with a goal of bringing affordable internet to all Americans. She rightly points out that the internet is now a requirement of daily life, like running water or electricity, and it needs to be widely available and affordable to US residents.
It’s almost, ALMOST, like it should be treated as a utility and not a for-profit industry. HMMMMMMMMMMM.
Consummate jackass and besmircher of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Ajit Pai, served as the previous chairperson of the FCC and chose not to raise the standard, and instead hoped the “free market” would fix everything. Turns out the “free market” doesn’t fix anything except the lack of a second yacht for ISP executives.
With a Democratic majority in the FCC board as of two weeks ago, there’s a good chance the new proposal might actually make it through. And then on to net neutrality, right comrades?