Re: [NNagain] some chatter about the fcc news

[David Lang <david@lang.hm>]

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On Tue, 19 Mar 2024, Mark Steckel wrote:

> ---- 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?

it's a funding gate, and it's also "X number of people in the country can't get 
broadband, we need to do SOMETHING"

as well as being a funding gate, you are not likely to get approval to deploy 
systems that don't qualify as 'broadband', even if you are asking for no funds.

David Lang

> > 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
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