Trump’s FCC Just Scrapped Its Most Ambitious Broadband Goal

The FCC has quietly reversed course on its goal to deliver high-speed, gigabit-speed internet to every American, eliminating its ambition entirely. In its latest broadband deployment report, the agency downplayed the importance of broadband, phrasing it as "often essential" rather than essential. This subtle shift in phrasing marks a significant departure from President Joe Biden's FCC, which had previously described broadband access as "essential to full participation in modern life."

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had even called the issue "a matter of life and death" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Christopher Ali, a telecommunications professor at Penn State University, noted that the new wording "sets the entire tone that suddenly broadband is not as important as it was five years ago."

The FCC's report claimed that 96.9% of Americans now have access to speeds of 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload, standards it set in 2024, but the numbers are self-reported by ISPs and may not reflect the reality. Doug Dawson, a broadband expert, suggested that some ISPs might be inflating their reported speeds. Brendan Carr, Chairman of the FCC just prior to the decision, acknowledged that the digital divide is closing, citing rising speeds, lower prices, and increased competition as evidence.

However, he opposed the 100/20Mbps standard and the FCC's goal of increasing it to 1,000/500Mbps as it allegedly "excludes fixed wireless" and could lead to "wasteful overbuilding." The gig-speed goal has now been scrapped, leaving rural Americans potentially left out of future funding.