So, what's the truth? This is most likely one of those wordsmithing games, at
least in part.
The vast majority have access to broadband, claims this FCC. According to this
FCC, at the end of 2017, only 19.4 million people DID NOT HAVE access to
Internet bandwidth adequate for TV streaming. Which means, something like 300
million DO HAVE broadband they can use for TV streaming. In most cases, all
they have to do is hook it up, and buy a PC or Roku (or similar) box, if they
aren't connected already. I take those numbers with a grain of salt, though.
This FCC has made it a habit not to verify, in order to justify their ludicrous
positions.
Or the figures that (I'm assuming) the TV industry is disseminating, as
reported by Mark Schubin in the first video he posted yesterday? Which showed
that something like half of the people in the US don't have broadband?
My BET is, numbers that imply that cord cutting has slowed or stopped are
misleading. They have been contradicted too recently to be credible. People are
connected to cable or FiOS, sure, but not for the so-called "TV package" so
much anymore. For broadband. My bet is the pollsters are asking ambiguous
questions, which different households answer in different ways.
Bert
----------------------------------------------
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-356271A1.pdf
Media Contact: Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253 mark.wigfield@xxxxxxx
For Immediate Release
REPORT: AMERICA'S DIGITAL DIVIDE NARROWS SUBSTANTIALLY Draft 2019
Broadband Deployment Report Shows More Than 25% Drop in Americans Lacking
Access to Fixed Broadband
-- WASHINGTON, February 19, 2019-The digital divide between Americans with and
without access to modern broadband networks has narrowed substantially,
according to the draft 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, which was circulated
by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to his fellow commissioners today.
"For the past two years, closing the digital divide has been the FCC's top
priority," Chairman Pai said. "We've been tackling this problem by removing
barriers to infrastructure investment, promoting competition, and providing
efficient, effective support for rural broadband expansion through our Connect
America Fund.
"This report shows that our approach is working. But we won't rest until all
Americans can have access to broadband and the 21st century opportunities it
provides to communities everywhere."
The Chairman's draft of the annual FCC report to Congress shows that since last
year's report, the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband
connection meeting the FCC's benchmark speed of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps has dropped by
over 25%, from 26.1 million Americans at the end of 2016 to 19.4 million at the
end of 2017. Moreover, the majority of those gaining access to such high-speed
connections, approximately 5.6 million, live in rural America, where broadband
deployment has traditionally lagged.
The private sector has responded to FCC reforms by deploying fiber to 5.9
million new homes in 2018, the largest number ever recorded. And overall,
capital expenditures by broadband providers increased in 2017, reversing
declines that occurred in both 2015 and 2016.
Other key findings of the report include the following, based on data through
the end of 2017:
The number of Americans with access to 100 Mbps/10Mpbs fixed broadband
increased by nearly 20%, from 244.3 million to 290.9 million.
The number of Americans with access to 250 Mbps/50 Mbps fixed broadband grew by
over 45%, to 205.2 million, and the number of rural Americans with access to
such service more than doubled
Based on these and other data, the report concludes that advanced
telecommunications services - broadband - is being deployed on a reasonable and
timely basis. The Commission is expected to vote on the report in the coming
weeks.
###
Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @FCC www.fcc.gov/media-relations
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