The FCC released its third report on the availability of advanced telecommunications capability services concluding that advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner. The report, which includes data through June 30, 2001, showed that the advanced telecommunications services market continued to grow, and that the availability of and subscribership to high-speed services increased significantly. Additionally, the report noted that although investment trends in general have slowed recently, investment in infrastructure for advanced telecommunications remains strong.
This is the FCC’s third inquiry, as required by Congress, into whether "advanced telecommunications capability" is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. Advanced telecommunications capability is the availability of high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video using any technology platform.
As with previous reports, the FCC uses the term "advanced telecommunications capability" to describe services and facilities with an upstream (customer-to-provider) and downstream (provider-to-customer) transmission speed exceeding 200 kilobits per second (kbps). The FCC uses the term "high-speed" for those services with over 200 kbps capability in at least one direction. The term high-speed services includes advanced telecommunications capability.
The data in the report is gathered largely from standardized information from providers of advanced telecommunications capability including wireline telephone companies, cable providers, wireless providers, satellite providers, and any other facilities-based providers of 250 or more high-speed service lines (or wireless channels) in a given state.