Instead of limiting my ability to enter contracts and chose the Internet/streaming service I want, I would much rather they devise a methodology for measuring and enforcing connection performance.
For example, "broadband internet" means at least 50Mbit. "50 Mbit" means that 90% percent of the time, there is a sustained throughput of at least 5MB/s for a TCP connection to a server in any data-center across the continental US (assuming the data-center link itself is not congested). "Unmetered" means that per month, the user can transfer a volume of data of at least 10% of the volume corresponding to a saturation of the connection 24/7 (1300 GB for a 50 Mbit connection as defined above).
Under such a rule, Comcast's connections could only be sold as "Dial-up+". And if broadband is not available in an area it's fair game for the municipal or state authorities to provision it with public funds as a basic need for a modern citizen; since the incumbent private provider obviously can't get a return on it's investment (what OTHER reason for not developing your infrastructure could there be, right ?)
I had to create this account just to correct this. "Broadband" means the data is modulated on to a wide spectrum signal, on the same copper as the POTS network. Anything from good old 512kbit/s upwards can be "broadband". I say "can be", because if it's not using a wide spectrum signal, e.g. fibre-optics, then that's not broadband.
"Broadband" is a well-defined technical term originating from physics. But "broadband internet" (what the OP was referring to) is a vaguely defined marketing term that is often used by ISPs to deceive consumers as to the speed of their connections. The OP is suggesting that that term be repurposed as a clearly (legally) defined one that improves internet access in America without introducing onerous regulations.
Ok, thank you for pointing that out. However I still don't think it's right to "re-purpose" words. Remember what happened when people tried to re-purpose kilo for 1024 etc.
For example, "broadband internet" means at least 50Mbit. "50 Mbit" means that 90% percent of the time, there is a sustained throughput of at least 5MB/s for a TCP connection to a server in any data-center across the continental US (assuming the data-center link itself is not congested). "Unmetered" means that per month, the user can transfer a volume of data of at least 10% of the volume corresponding to a saturation of the connection 24/7 (1300 GB for a 50 Mbit connection as defined above).
Under such a rule, Comcast's connections could only be sold as "Dial-up+". And if broadband is not available in an area it's fair game for the municipal or state authorities to provision it with public funds as a basic need for a modern citizen; since the incumbent private provider obviously can't get a return on it's investment (what OTHER reason for not developing your infrastructure could there be, right ?)