Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has outlined ambitions to increase the minimum download and upload speeds for broadband services in the country.

Rosenworcel said that there's no reason why everyone in the US shouldn't be connected with high-speed Internet services.

FCC
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“In today’s world, everyone needs access to affordable, high-speed Internet, no exceptions,” said Rosenworcel. “It’s time to connect everyone, everywhere. Anything short of 100 percent is just not good enough.”

As part of plans to improve broadband coverage in the country, Rosenworcel proposed to increase the national fixed broadband standard to 100 megabits per second for download and 20Mbps for upload.

This would trump the current figures of 25Mbps for downloads and 3Mbps for upload speeds that are in place.

Rosenworcel and the FCC don't want to stop there, proposing to set a separate national goal of 1Gbps/500Mbps in the future.

The FCC previously set the broadband standard at 25/3Mbps in 2015 and has not updated it since.

US President Joe Biden recently pledged $42.5 billion towards boosting broadband across the US, with the investment to be divided by the nation's 50 states and five overseas territories.

The investment forms part of Biden's goal to deliver universal broadband to all Americans by 2030.

"It's the biggest investment in high-speed Internet ever. Because for today's economy to work for everyone, Internet access is just as important as electricity, or water, or other basic services," said Biden last month.

The funding is part of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, with funding authorized by the $1.2 trillion 2021 Infrastructure Law.