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It just never ends with these assholes. When reality is inconvenient for them, they just create an alternate one. Now the FCC, under the direction of open internet foe Ajit Pai, is planning on cooking the books to say that having a cell phone is the equivalent of having "broadband access." This in order to say that the FCC doesn't need to work on actually expanding broadband access—one of its charges.
If this definition were changed, it would be a serious blow to the estimated 19 million Americans who still lack access to high-speed internet. It would effectively reduce the number of those Americans who are considered "unserved," covering up the problem and reducing the incentive for internet service providers to try to reach them.
This is in spite of the fact that cell service, which is often slower, more expensive, and comes with data caps, is simply not the same as home internet access. The inquiry makes sure to highlight that "productivity applications once confined to personal computers are
now commonly available on mobile devices, including the Microsoft Office Suite, Intuit QuickBooks, Google Drive, and Adobe Acrobat." I mean, sure, you can technically use Word on your phone, but try writing an essay or filling out an inventory report with just your thumbs and you'll realize why home internet is so important. (It's also possible to tether a computer to a phone for internet, but it's not a long-term solution for anyone on a data plan.)
This proposal, which Ars Technica first reported Wednesday, appears in the FCC's annual broadband inquiry. It's open for comment now, and poses a number of questions that basically boil down to "what's the difference, really?" The inquiry suggests that 10 megabits per second mobile download speeds and 1Mbps upload speeds are the equivalent of broadband (which the FCC has previously defined as a minimum of 25Mbps download speeds and 3mbps upload speeds).
See, exactly the same! Last year the FCC, in its annual review of broadband deployment said that "34 million Americans, about 10 percent of the country, 'still lack access to fixed broadband at the FCC’s benchmark speed of 25Mbps for downloads, 3Mbps for uploads.'" It also said that access to broadband and access to a mobile connection were absolutely not the same. Because of course they fucking aren't.
But making the lower broadband standard lower would make America's broadband numbers look better, in part because DSL networks could often meet the old standard but not the new one. And Pai is going to try to do everything he can to make Trump's America look good, never mind that old liberal-biased reality.
