speeds

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says 25Mbps is no longer fast enough to count as "broadband." It's proposed increasing the standard to 100Mbps for downloads. The figures matter because the "broadband speed standard" is the measure the ... FCC uses to assess whether broadband is becoming available "on a reasonable and timely basis" to the entire US population. If it isn't, the FCC has the authority - and legal responsibility - to take action to correct the shortfall. This could include changing rules to promote competition or make it easier for companies to invest in new infrastructure ... (view more)

A satellite Internet company has slammed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for refusing to subsidize its expansion. Starlink wanted the public money that is normally given to wired Internet companies to reach rural areas. The FCC said ... Starlink hadn't done enough to prove it could live up to its promises and said the technology wasn't developed enough. The argument is about how the FCC allocates a $9.2 billion fund that's designed to subsidize companies to build or extend broadband access in places where it wouldn't be profitable to do so otherwise. Starlink had bid in an auction to ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to increase the minimum threshold for 'broadband' speeds. It won't mean immediate changes for users, but could speed up efforts to boost investment and competition in broadband networks. At the ... moment, the FCC officially defines broadband internet as having speeds of at least 25Mbps for downloads and 3Mbps for uploads. That definition has remained unchanged since 2015, with previous FCC chair Tom Wheeler rejecting calls to increase it. Current chair Jessica Rosenworcel has formally proposed increasing the minimum speeds to 100Mbps for ... (view more)

Average broadband speeds have dipped during 2020, almost certainly because people spent more time streaming video. It's a reversal of normal trends but could have been a lot worse. The figures come from cable.co.uk, which includes a speed testing ... feature. It says normally the global average figures measured by such tests will rise by at least 20 percent each year, which is largely because of improved infrastructure. However, across tests in 114 countries, speeds are actually down 6.31 percent from the beginning of the year. Only two regions (the Baltics and Carribbean) had an average rise, ... (view more)

Researchers believe a new type of cable could carry Internet data at speeds 100 times greater than even the fastest on offer today. The new technology could benefit hospitals and research facilities in particular. The technique was developed by ... researchers at universities in Leeds and Nottingham in the United Kingdom, and is based around similar technology found in fiber optic cables. Those are the fastest data-carrying cables and work by sending pulses of light down a tiny transparent tube. By far, the greatest benefit of utilizing fiber optic cables is that it can transfer data over long ... (view more)

T-Mobile is the fastest, most reliable mobile broadband in the US according to a newly-published study. It seems some of its rivals struggled to cope with demand after switching to unlimited data plans. The good news is that speeds are increasing ... across the industry, with AT ... (view more)

The attorney general of New York has asked Internet users in the state to test and submit their Internet speeds. Eric Schneiderman says the move is part of a probe to see if broadband providers are making misleading speed claims. Schneiderman is ... asking users in the state to visit InternetHealthTest.org , which is an independently run site. The site runs a simple download speed test to work out an average speed. (Source: ny.gov ) Results Must Be Sent Via Screenshot Unfortunately, Schneiderman's office was unable to automated the process for sharing the results with other government ... (view more)

A new report reveals the states with the fastest and slowest Internet speeds -- and the results are quite surprising. According to information technology and communications firm Broadview Networks, the fastest Internet service in the United States ... can be found in Virginia, which boasts an average speed of 13.7 megabits per second (Mbps), or approximately 1625 kilobytes per second. In fact, the eastern seaboard is home to many states with fast Internet: Delaware and Massachusetts tied for second (13.1 Mbps), followed by Rhode Island (12.9 Mbps) and Washington, DC (12.8 Mbps). Of course, there ... (view more)

Google has named 34 cities where it hopes to offer its super-fast broadband service. Google Fiber customers can get speeds as high as 50 times more than that which is currently offered by most cable providers. Typical Broadband Versus Google Fiber ... Typical Internet broadband over an ordinary copper phone line means speeds of a few megabits per second. For services over the same fiber-optic cables as cable TV companies, speeds of 10 to 20 megabits per second are more common. For a numbers comparison, a 10 megabit connection is equal to 1280 kilobytes per second. That said, Google Fiber offers ... (view more)