FCC says ISP network performance is improving
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FCC says ISP network performance is improving

Internet service providers (ISPs) across the US are improving their overall network performance, according to a new report by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

ISPs on average delivered 101% of advertised speeds, showing a 4% increase from the same report in 2013.

The report, which also showed that some networks are falling short of their advertised online access speeds, will be used by the regulator to call for improvements from fixed broadband providers

On average, the FCC reported that up to half of the ISPs delivered less than 90% or better than their advertised speeds, while one third provided at least 60% of advertised speeds.

Cablevision was one of the few ISPs that delivered 100% of its advertised speeds or better, while rivals Comcast, Time Warner Cable and AT&T provided less consistent speeds than advertised.

However, there were five ISPs that failed to deliver at least 90% of advertised performance during peak periods – Verizon, DSL, CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream.

“While it’s encouraging to see that in the past these reports have encouraged providers to improve their services, I’m concerned that some providers are failing to deliver consistent speeds to consumers commensurate to their advertised speeds,” said Tom Wheeler, FCC chairman.

The FCC is attempting to implement a set of rules with legal implications for operators that fail to deliver what they are advertising, without hitting consumers with additional charges.

Internet accessibility is constantly under the spotlight in the US, as the net neutrality debate continues to unfold.

Present rules do not permit ISPs to discriminate network capacity against high-bandwidth and high-capacity services that run over their networks.

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