Federal Communications Commission DA 18-99 %HIRUH the )HGHUDO&RPPXQLFDWLRQV&RPPLVVLRQ :DVKLQJWRQ'& In the Matter of ) ) International Comparison Requirements Pursuant ) GN Docket No. 17-199 to the Broadband Data Improvement Act ) ) International Broadband Data Report ) 6,;7+5(3257 Adopted: February 2, 2018 Released: February 2, 2018 By the Chief, International Bureau: 7$%/(2)&217(176 Para. I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 II. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 2 III. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................ 5 IV.HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FINDINGS ..................................................................................................... 7 A. Broadband Speed Comparison ......................................................................................................... 8 B. Broadband Price Comparison ........................................................................................................ 12 C. High-Speed Broadband Deployment Comparison with Europe .................................................... 16 D. Demographics Dataset ................................................................................................................... 22 E. Market and Regulatory Developments .......................................................................................... 23 F. Other Relevant Information ........................................................................................................... 32 1. Broadband Subscription (OECD Countries) ........................................................................... 32 2. Efforts to Improve International Broadband Data. .................................................................. 35 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 36 VI.PROCEDURAL MATTERS ................................................................................................................ 37 APPENDIX A ± Country List APPENDIX B ± Broadband Speed Comparison APPENDIX C ± Broadband Price Comparison APPENDIX D ± High-Speed Broadband Deployment Comparison with Europe APPENDIX E ± Demographics Dataset APPENDIX F ± Market and Regulatory Developments , ,1752'8&7,21 1. As required by Section 103(b) of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA), we issue this sixth International Broadband Data Report (Report), which provides comparative international information on broadband services and, where possible, a year-to-year measure of the extent of broadband service capability in the United States and select communities and countries abroad.1 In this Report, we compare fixed and, for the first time, mobile broadband (LTE) speeds in the United States with the selected countries, to the extent data are available. We improve upon our pricing comparison from 1 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b). The Broadband Data Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 110-385, 122 Stat. 4096 (2008), is codified in Title 47, Chapter 12 of the United States Code. 47 U.S.C. § 1301 et seq. 978 Federal Communications Commission DA 18-99 previous reports by providing a more comprehensive assessment of the competitiveness of broadband in each country and the value that broadband providers are delivering to consumers. We include a comparison of high-speed fixed and mobile broadband deployment in the United States and in Europe. Finally, we present demographic, market, and other regulatory information relating to broadband service capability. We include the highlights of our findings in this Report, and present the detailed data sources and additional discussion in the relevant appendices. ,, %$&.*5281' 2. The BDIA requires the Commission to include as part of its assessment in the annual broadband deployment UHSRUW³LQIRUPDWLRQFRPSDULQJWKHH[WHQWRIEURDGEDQGVHUYLFHFDSDELOLW\ (including data transmission speeds and price for broadband service capability) in a total of 75 communities in at least 25 countries abroad for each of the data rate benchmarks for broadband service XWLOL]HGE\WKH&RPPLVVLRQWRUHIOHFWGLIIHUHQWVSHHGWLHUV´2 The BDIA directs the Commission to choose international communities comparable to various communities in the United States with respect to population size, population density, topography, and demographic profile.3 The Commission is required WRLQFOXGH³DJHRJUDSKLFDOO\GLYHUVHVHOHFWLRQRIFRXQWULHV´DQG³FRPPXQLWLHVLQFOXGLQJWKHFDSLWDOFLWLHV RIVXFKFRXQWULHV´4 7KH&RPPLVVLRQPXVW³LGHQWLI\UHOHYDQWVLPLODULWLHVDQGGLIIerences in each community, including their market structures, the number of competitors, the number of facilities-based providers, the types of technologies deployed by such providers, the applications and services those technologies enable, the regulatory model under which broadband service capability is provided, the types of applications and services used, business and residential use of such services, and other media available WRFRQVXPHUV´5 3. Thirteenth Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry and Comments. In the Thirteenth Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry, the Commission sought comment ³RQKRZWREHVWLQWHUSUHWWKH VWDWXWRU\REOLJDWLRQV´RIWKH%',$DQGhow ³WRLPSURYHRXUQH[WLQWHUQDWLRQDODVVHVVPHQW´6 The Commission asked whether it should continue using the same overall approach to the international assessment as in past years7 and whether it should select ³at least 25 countries that have developed EURDGEDQGPDUNHWVZKLFKKDYHUHDGLO\DYDLODEOHGDWD´8 The Commission asked whether it should continue to present, for example, actual broadband speeds in different countries by using the publicly 2 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b)(1). 6HYHUDOWHUPVWKDWZHXVHLQWKLV5HSRUWVXFKDV³EURDGEDQG´³DGYDQFHG WHOHFRPPXQLFDWLRQVFDSDELOLW\´DQG³DYDLODELOLW\´may have specialized meanings in other contexts, and nothing in this Report should be read to suggest that our use of terminology here is intended to affect the meanings of other specialized terms in the context of the 2018 Broadband Deployment Report or in other proceedings. See, e.g., Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability to All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, GN Docket No. 17-199, Broadband Deployment Report, FCC 18-10, (Feb. 2, 2018) (2018 Broadband Deployment Report). The 2018 Broadband Deployment Report incorporates by reference this Report to fulfill the requirements of Section 103(b) of the BDIA. 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b). 3 47 U.S.C. § 1303(b)(2). 4 Id. 5 Id. § 1303(b)(3). 6 Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability to All Americans in a Reasonable and Timely Fashion, GN Docket No. 17-199, Thirteenth Section 706 Report Notice of Inquiry, 32 FCC Rcd 7029, 7044, para. 51 (2017) (Thirteenth Broadband Deployment Notice of Inquiry). 7 Id. at 7044-45, para. 52. Past international assessments have included comparisons of actual broadband download speeds, prices for fixed and mobile service plans, rural and non-rural broadband deployment (comparing the United States and Europe), demographic data (population, income, and education), and a summary of market and regulatory aspects of the countries included for comparison. 8 Id. at 7045, para. 53. FRQWLQXHG« 979 Federal Communications Commission DA 18-99 available speed test data provided by Ookla, proprietor of speedtest.net.9 The Commission also sought comment RQ³KRZEHVWWRFRPSDUHIL[HGDQGPRELOHEURDGEDQGSULFLQJLQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVZLWKWKH VHOHFWHGFRXQWULHV´LQFOXGLQJZKHWKHUto use a hedonic approach, and if so, whether previously captured price variables are adequate.10 The Commission also sought comment on whether there are other sources of international broadband pricing data that could better improve the quality and usefulness of the comparisons.11 The Commission also invited commenters to provide any relevant qualitative and quantitative data or suggest data sources that could improve our analysis.12 4. We received very few comments regarding how to best interpret the statutory obligations of the BDIA or ways to improve the international assessment. One commenter recognized the inherent difficulty in comparing the United States to other countries, but stated ³it can still be instructive to compare similar locales in various countries´13 Some commenters stated that international comparisons are of limited use, indicating, for example, that LWLV³GRXEWIXOWKDWFRPSDUDEOHFRXQWULHVH[LVW´ due to WKH8QLWHG6WDWHV¶ODUJHVL]H, number of sparsely populated areas, and low density cities as compared to large foreign cities.14 No commenter specifically offered or suggested alternate sources of broadband speed or price data.15 ,,, ',6&866,21 5. Selection of Countries for Comparison. The BDIA directs the Commission to report information comparing the extent of broadband service capability ³in a total of 75 communities in at least 25 countries abroad.´16 To implement the statutory directive, we selected 28 foreign countries for comparison with the United States. To guide our selection of countries with comparable communities for this Report, we developed several criteria to meet the statutory directive of developing a geographically diverse and detailed set of data on international broadband service capability.17 First, we attempted to select countries with comparable communities18