About three years ago, the Federal Communications Commission raised the definition of broadband from 4 Mbps to 25 Mbps. This meant for an area to be considered to have high-speed Internet, it actually had to have high-speed Internet available in the area. Makes sense because 4 Mbps just isn't fast enough to much of anything.
Fast forward to 2017. Now the Republican controlled FCC under Verizon's minion Ajit Pai is saying that actually 25 Mbps is too fast and it needs to be lowered back down to 10 Mbps. I guess too many consumers were complaining about their Internet being just too darn fast. One of the FCC Commissioners, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel thinks the re-defining is just to make it easier for the FCC to say they did their job of ensuring that all American have access to high-speed Internet in their zip codes. Kind of like saying if water is just kind of dirty it can be called clean so that you can say you have clean water.
Since the FCC under Trump is stacked in the Republican's favor Pai, and therefore big telecoms, will probably get his/their way.
Or could it be that Ajit Pai's corporate overlords didn't want to have to actually provide high-speed Internet in some areas? The FCC under Pai has just been slashing consumer protections right and left. It is no wonder that many people think that he is working for someone other than the consumers of the United States.
Pai has also maintained that if someone can get cell service then they might not need fast Internet service in their area. Of course Verizon, Ajit Pai's former employer (and possible future employer) just happens to be the number one mobile provider in the country.
By the way, at Ajit Pai’s house near DC he gets both Verizon and Comcast Xfinity, with Verizon Fios speeds of up to 500Mbps and Comcast download speeds up to 200Mbps. But the rest of America only needs 10 Mbps.
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