I’m going to let you in on a secret, I’m in Ireland this week. Thanks to the beauty of broadband, I can work from anywhere. I’m trying to keep work to a measured pace while I’m here, but I couldn’t resist pointing out a recent article in MuniNetworks on the FCC’s inquiry into updating the definition of broadband….

As we approached the new year, and after more than a decade of criticism, the FCC finally moved to tackle the agency’s long-dated definition of broadband with an eye on nudging the industry toward faster broadband deployments. But many industry watchers say the belated reform inquiry arrives late and long after other agencies have filled the void left by a lack of FCC leadership.

The FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (NOI), issued in November, asks whether the agency should finally adopt 100 Mbps (megabit per second) downstream, 20 Mbps upstream as the new standard U.S. definition of broadband.

“Ultimately, I believe it is essential in the United States to set big goals in order to get big things done,” FCC boss Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “That is why we are kicking off this inquiry to update our national broadband standard to better align it with the standards in pandemic-era legislation of 100 Megabits per second down and 20 Megabits per second up and also set a long-term goal for gigabit speeds.”

But there’s nothing about the FCC’s planned definition that’s “big.”

There’s not much I can add that Karl Bode doesn’t post in the article. I do agree that it seems disingenuous to talk about big goals and then come out with a number that Minnesota used at speed goal for 2026 several years ago.