The FCC released it’s 2015 Broadband Progress Report in February. I was please to see that the benchmark speeds for broadband were reclassified from 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps speeds (which were ridiculous) to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. This of course changed how broadband availability and adoption is calculate. I put together a visual comparison of progress from their previous report from 2012.
It doesn’t look good, I don’t know what the progress would look like if they had maintained the 4/1 speeds, but a safe guess is much better. While the change in speed requirements may make it appear as if progress is not being made, it gives a far more accurate report of the national broadband status (and gap). I applaud the FCC for making the change to the definition of broadband speeds.
Below are the maps from the reports.
Librarian by Day 