Re: [NNagain] some chatter about the fcc news

[Mark Steckel <mjs@phillywisper.net>]

 ---- On Tue, 19 Mar 2024 12:02:34 -0400  David Lang via Nnagain  wrote --- 
 > they are trying to make it so WISP and especially Starlink don't qualify as 
 > 'broadband'

Does this really matter to consumers? More specifically, do or will consumers care to check and base decisions on whether their Internet provider's sevice that meets FCC "broadband" definition? 

Or is it a way to restrict federal funding to the big ISPs?





 > 
 > David Lang
 > 
 > On Tue, 19 Mar 2024, Dave Taht via Nnagain wrote:
 > 
 > > from brett glass:
 > >
 > > https://www.broadband.io/c/get-broadband-grant-alerts-news/it-s-on-fcc-officially-increases-its-broadband-speed-requirement-to-100-20-mbps#comment_wrapper_32464006
 > >
 > > This decision is the equivalent of saying, “If you don’t have a
 > > Cadillac, you don’t have a car.”
 > >
 > > It also confuses “speed” (an ill-defined term) with capacity, latency,
 > > jitter, and other factors which do matter, and ridiculously overstates
 > > the amount of bandwidth needed for common Internet activities. Unless,
 > > of course, the service is very bad, in which case you can compensate
 > > somewhat - not completely - by throwing more bandwidth at the problem.
 > >
 > > In short, it’s a bad decision, made by politicians who have most
 > > likely been deceived by corporate lobbyists, rather than the sort of
 > > rational decision that would be made if the FCC were an apolitical
 > > expert agency. Or if the Commissioners had even consulted a
 > > knowledgeable practicing network engineer. (Are there any engineers
 > > left at the FCC? Or have most of them, like Julie Knapp, retired after
 > > being frustratingly ignored?)
 > >
 > > For my company, a WISP, it means deploying more expensive equipment
 > > than I need to, when folks don’t need the capacity. (Our quality is so
 > > good that most of our customers peak at 5-10 Mbps of capacity - the
 > > data rate is still typically 200-500 Mbps - and don’t need to pay for
 > > more, though some do.) This depletes capital, needlessly increases the
 > > cost of broadband service and discourages uptake of service (we still
 > > see a lot of folks who rely entirely on cell phones and tethering).
 > > Yet another example of destructive overregulation and government
 > > bureaucracy. Government should stay out of the broadband business and
 > > quit meddling with it. It’s not competent and is doing a LOT more harm
 > > than good.
 > >
 > >
 > > -- 
 > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Tmvv5jJKs Epik Mellon Podcast
 > > Dave Täht CSO, LibreQos
 > > _______________________________________________
 > > Nnagain mailing list
 > > Nnagain@lists.bufferbloat.net
 > > https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/nnagain_______________________________________________
 > Nnagain mailing list
 > Nnagain@lists.bufferbloat.net
 > https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/nnagain
 >