How should broadband services be defined?
Please discuss (1) what criteria should be used to determine whether a facility or service has sufficient transmission capacity to be classified as “broadband;” (2) how the definition should evolve over time; and (3) the policy implications of how the term is defined. TIA believes that the term “broadband” has been used inappropriately and too generically in the policy arena. The result has become that policymakers and others fail to understand its essence and its usefulness as a term of reference is compromised. TIA thus has made an extensive effort to draw a distinction between the Internet access services generally available in the residential market today and the next-generation, higher bandwidth broadband communications technologies that will make possible the converged voice, high-quality video and data services that enable fast, content-rich applications. In order for a communications technology platform to be considered as supporting “broadband services” in the truest sense, th
