The Federal Communications Commission has formally abandoned long-term national broadband speed targets that called for eventually reaching gigabit download and half-gigabit upload speeds across the United States. Chairman Brendan Carr followed through on a threat he made in 2025 to scrap the goals, which had been established during the Biden administration. The decision affects American consumers and the nation’s broader infrastructure ambitions, as regulators now decline to set any specific long-term speed benchmarks.
The FCC justified the move by stating that it is currently impossible to predict long-term technological developments and the evolution of consumer preferences. The agency wrapped the abandonment inside a broader broadband report that claims speeds are up, competition is up, and prices are down. However, as Ars Technica noted, some of those insights are sourced from industry lobby groups, and the report includes no adverse research from advocacy groups.
The decision revives a debate that dates back more than a decade. It has been 13 years since Comcast said Americans do not need gigabit internet, and now the FCC has effectively returned to that position. The current 25Mbps definition of broadband was long criticized before the standard was raised to 100/20 in 2024 under previous leadership. Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who also killed net neutrality, had previously argued that speeds beyond that outdated threshold were unnecessary.
Carr, who succeeded Pai, is described in the source article as repeating similar arguments in a more cynical way. The source article argues that predicting consumer desire for faster speeds is one of the least-impossible things to predict, and calls the abandonment peak regulatory arrogance from an administration that has not been shy about lying to the public. The piece also notes that the private sector has delivered super high speeds in certain areas, citing an apartment that offers 5 gigabit synchronous internet service requiring a new network card to handle.
The source article suggests the FCC has been further captured by industry interests that would prefer satellite internet projects not look bad when compared to high standards. The Guardian reported the same day that Carr has been exceptionally close with the White House and right-wing media. The source article concludes that killing the broadband goal likely has nothing to do with public interests.
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