STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
Re: Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability to All 
Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, and Possible Steps to Accelerate Such 
Deployment Pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as Amended 
by the Broadband Data Improvement Act, GN Docket No. 15-191.
I believe the future belongs to the connected.  That’s because a broadband connection is more 
than a technology—it’s a platform for opportunity.  No matter who you are or where you live in this 
country, you need access to modern communications to have a fair shot at 21
st
century success.  That’s a 
fact.  
There are also a lot of facts in today’s Report, which is our most comprehensive picture of where 
we stand in bringing broadband to all Americans.  Much of the news is good.  This is due in no small 
measure to the enormous investment that communications providers are making to deploy broadband 
across the country.  At the same time, this Report demonstrates that we have communities that lack the 
connectivity they need today and require for the future.  This is especially true in rural and Tribal areas.  
So we have work to do.  
I also believe the future belongs to the bold.  Enough with dreaming small.  It’s time to dream 
big.  This is the country that put a man on the moon.  We invented the Internet.  We can do audacious 
things—if we set big goals.  
So I believe we need big broadband goals.  I am pleased that six years ago the Commission had 
the foresight to change our downstream broadband speed threshold from 200 kilobits to 4 Megabits.  I am
glad that last year we upped the ante and changed that threshold to 25 Megabits.  I support the continued 
use of this standard today.  But I think we need to go big and be bold.  I think our new threshold should 
be 100 Megabits—and Gigabit speed should be in our sights.  I believe anything short of goals like this 
shortchanges our children, our future, and our digital economy.  
  This may not be easy, but we can do it.  That’s because the history of innovation is brimming 
with examples of the great depths of American know-how.  It’s time to put that know-how to work and 
bring really big broadband everywhere.