Martin
WASHINGTON -- Three watchdog groups have derided a recent Federal Communications Commission report that broadband use notably is expanding as "misleading" and "at best, wildly optimistic."
Contrary to the rosy conclusions of the FCC report, issued last month, groups claimed that Americans are "falling woefully behind the rest of world in broadband access."
After reviewing the report's data, Free Press, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union on Wednesday released a joint statement, saying the agency analysis "is misleading and glosses over serious problems behind an ever-widening digital divide."
The report trumpeted a significant increase in broadband use across the country. FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin, a proponent of expanding broadband, then wrote favorably about the report's implications in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.
"But upon closer scrutiny, the claims made in the report -- and (in the) subsequent op-ed -- are, at best, wildly optimistic," the groups said in their statement.
According to a Free Press research fellow who reviewed the FCC report, the agency overstated broadband penetration rates by regarding any ZIP code as covered by broadband even if only one resident subscribed. The FCC also misrepresented the number of high-speed Internet connections by including services that other countries would exclude because they are too slow, the researcher said.
Claiming a lack of competition among broadband service providers, the researcher also pointed out, "On a per megabit basis, U.S. consumers pay 10 to 25 times more than broadband users in Japan." The FCC recently released DSL providers from open-access requirements, which agency officials said would promote competition, but critics have claimed will do the opposite.
"The FCC is trying to put the best face on this problem it can, but the people who can't afford or don't have access to high-speed Internet know the truth," Mark Cooper, research director of CFA, said in a statement. "If the FCC continues to ignore reality, the gap between the (broadband) haves and have-nots will become too wide to bridge," he predicted.
"Fudging the facts won't provide high-speed Internet access to those who need it most," said CU senior policy analyst Jeannine Kenney in a statement. "If the FCC is content to let cable and phone companies control the broadband market, then consumers need a third option -- wireless broadband that is less expensive and which doesn't depend on DSL or cable modems."
Groups called on Congress to enact policies that will promote broadband competition.
An FCC spokesman declined to comment.
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