Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown joined mayors and elected officials from 34 communities on Wednesday to call for uniform and accessible reporting on broadband network performance.
The letter, coordinated by Next Century Cities, was prompted by the findings of a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “BROADBAND PERFORMANCE: Additional Actions Could Help FCC Evaluate its Efforts to Inform Consumers.”
“The recent Government Accountability Office report highlights the importance of standardized measurement for broadband network performance,” said McKeown. “If Santa Monica is to realize our vision of fast, affordable, and reliable Internet access, we need to be able to effectively and objectively measure our progress.”
Santa Monica is a member of Next Century Cities, a city-to-city initiative founded to support communities and their elected leaders as they seek to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable, and reliable Internet.
“The GAO report offers an opportunity to assess how we measure network performance,” said Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities. “If we are truly committed to ensuring access to fast, affordable, and reliable broadband Internet, we need to think seriously about how we measure speed, cost, and reliability, and how we communicate this information to consumers.”
In support of this effort to provide clarity and transparency in the provision of broadband services, Santa Monica joined other member communities, in writing the FCC, saying:
“Efforts to develop this core infrastructure are impeded when our citizens are unable to accurately gauge the quality and speed of their Internet…As broadband Internet becomes increasingly critical to the well-being of towns and cities across the country, being able to reliably measure and compare network performance will help to ensure that we, as elected leaders, are delivering the essential infrastructure our communities need.”
The full letter is below:
Dear Chairman Wheeler and Commissioners Clyburn, Rosenworcel, Pai, and O’Rielly:
Our communities represent a cross-section of American towns and cities, large and small, urban and rural, from across the country. Yet in spite of our numerous differences, we are united by a common conviction that high-quality broadband Internet access is necessary infrastructure for the 21st century, as essential as good roads and reliable electricity. We know that fast, affordable, and reliable next-generation Internet networks are the key to building and sustaining thriving communities.
To help our communities access these critical opportunities, we have joined the city-to-city collaborative Next Century Cities, which supports local efforts to provide these networks. We are working to provide the high-quality Internet that is essential to thriving communities and remain deeply appreciative of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to safeguard the principle of local choice and empower more communities to achieve high-speed broadband Internet.
However, efforts to develop this core infrastructure are impeded when our citizens are unable to accurately gauge the quality and speed of their Internet. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), entitled “BROADBAND PERFORMANCE: Additional Actions Could Help FCC Evaluate its Efforts to Inform Consumers,” has shed light on difficulties faced by consumers in obtaining this information and suggests steps your institution can take to help change these practices.
In theory, consumers should be able to compare their broadband options. While your commission requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to report their broadband performance, the GAO report found that ISPs are not required to report this information in a standardized way. This means that consumers trying to compare internet speed information are too often unable to make accurate comparisons. Compounding this issue, the technical language used in FCC reports makes this material tricky for consumers to understand.
Reliable information on performance is necessary to ensure that consumers can make informed decisions, drive competition, and incentivize faster, more reliable broadband service.
That is why we collectively ask that the Commission consider the findings and recommendations of the GAO, and work with ISPs and other stakeholders in developing uniform standards to allow easy and accurate assessment of Internet speeds.
As the report found, elements of this new and more effective assessment of broadband networks should include:
— Universal standards required by ISPs for measuring broadband network speed and reliability incorporating readily-available information from sources such as consumer research; and
— More accessible reports and resources on network performance from the FCC, directed at general readership.
Implementing these elements could be easily achieved through helpful actions, such as creating an easily-accessible database comparing performances of competing networks in a geographic region, and by convening an advisory panel of state and local leaders, as well as community advocates, to help curate and present the information to the general public and assess the success of these educational efforts.
As broadband Internet becomes increasingly critical to the well-being of towns and cities across the country, being able to reliably measure and compare network performance will help to ensure that we, as elected leaders, are delivering the essential infrastructure our communities need.
We thank the Commission for its tireless work in assisting the deployment of high-speed broadband networks, and we look forward to more accessible and effective information on broadband performance for our citizens.
Signatories
Dana Kirkham
Mayor
Ammon, Idaho
Martin J. Walsh
Mayor
Boston, Massachusetts
Paul Cutler
Mayor
Centerville, Utah
Deborah Frank Feinen
Mayor
Champaign, Illinois
Andy Berke
Mayor
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Richard J. Kos
Mayor
Chicopee, Massachusetts
Don Ness
Mayor
Duluth, Minnesota
Wade Truxell
Mayor
Fort Collins, Colorado
David Gysberts
Mayor
Hagerstown, Maryland
Mark R. Holland
Mayor
Kansas City, Kansas
Sylvester “Sly” James, Jr.
Mayor
Kansas City, Missouri
Joey Durel
City-Parish President
Lafayette, Louisiana
Peter d’Errico
Select Board Member
Leverett, Massachusetts
Paul Soglin
Mayor
Madison, Wisconsin
Ed Fielding
County Commissioner
Martin County, Florida
Adam Friedrick
County Commissioner
Medina County, Ohio
David Romero
Mayor
Montrose, Colorado
Gary Chesney
Mayor
Morristown, Tennessee
Jill Boudreau
Mayor
Mount Vernon, Washington
Toni Harp
Mayor
New Haven, Connecticut
Gary Fuller
Mayor
Opelika, Alabama
Karen Holman
Mayor
Palo Alto, California
Homer Nicholson
Mayor
Ponca City, Oklahoma
Charlie Hales
Mayor
Portland, Oregon
Rusty Bailey
Mayor
Riverside, California
David A. Bowers
Mayor
Roanoke, Virginia
Paul B. Woodson, Jr.
Mayor
Salisbury, North Carolina
Ron Nirenberg
City Councilman
San Antonio, Texas
Bill King
Mayor
Sandy, Oregon
Kevin McKeown
Mayor
Santa Monica, California
Edward B. Murray
Mayor
Seattle, Washington
Earl Leiken
Mayor
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Steven Leifson
Mayor
Spanish Fork, Utah
Stephanie A. Miner
Mayor
Syracuse, New York
Brian K. Housh
Village Council Member
Yellow Springs, Ohio
