“Despite the significant, year-over-year advances in broadband capabilities underscored in the Commission’s own data, the conclusions of the FCC’s 706 Report continue an alarming trend of ignoring objectivity and facts in order to serve political ends and maximize agency power. Once again, the FCC arbitrarily defines ‘broadband’ as requiring a 25 Mbps connection (notwithstanding its lower 10Mbps standard used when doling out universal service support), and in so doing, diminishes the Report’s value and chooses expediency over honest assessment.
“The reality is that progress in deploying broadband in America has been reasonable and timely. Private industry has invested over $1.4 trillion to build robust networks that reach most Americans and, as the Commission found just ten days ago, continue to significantly increase in speed and performance every year. The fact that the Commission released the positive Measuring Broadband America report without fanfare during the quietest week of the year while trumpeting its Section 706 findings far and wide just two weeks later confirms that this report is more theater than substance.”