Do you bear in mind Ajit Pai? The previous FCC Chairman handpicked by then-president Donald Trump? You realize, the one who was notorious for consuming out of a big Reese’s espresso mug and…oh yeah, killing web neutrality?

In 2021, when he was on the way in which out of the company, Pai declared {that a} paltry 25 megabits per second (mbps) minimal pace requirement for broadband within the U.S. was greater than sufficient for Individuals.

Now, simply 3 years, one new U.S. President, and a brand new Chairman of the FCC later…the FCC is lastly redefining what speeds classify as “broadband.”

In keeping with the FCC in a assertion launched on Thursday, the broadband pace benchmark has now quadrupled from 25mbps to 100mbps. As The Verge identified, that new benchmark is what present FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wished to set as the usual 9 years in the past in 2015.

“This repair is overdue,” Rosenworcel stated in a assertion. “It aligns us with pandemic laws just like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation and the work of our colleagues at different companies. It additionally helps us higher determine the extent to which low-income neighborhoods and rural communities are underserved.”

That is a significant half as to why it is so necessary that the FCC up to date what’s outlined as broadband. The FCC report helps decide how the U.S. is doing on the subject of web entry. If elements of the nation aren’t adequately hitting these FCC benchmarks, they will probably get funding from the federal government to assist higher join the folks dwelling in these areas. Because the FCC notes, as of 2024, 24 million Individuals are with out “mounted terrestrial broadband service.” This consists of 28 p.c of rural America.

And President Joe Biden’s FCC Commissioner is not stopping at 100mbps both.

“As a result of doing massive issues is in our DNA, we additionally undertake a long-term aim of 1 Gigabit down and 500 Megabits up,” she continued in her assertion. “Our aim is to attach everybody, all over the place to high-speed broadband.”

Clearly, there’s nonetheless a number of work to be executed on the subject of first rate web accessibility within the U.S. (Two Republican FCC Commissioners dissented within the vote to alter this broadband benchmark.) However after the harm attributable to the FCC below the final administration, it looks as if issues are lastly headed in the fitting route.