The Federal Communications Commission annual analysis of the state of the country's broadband market may undergo a shift, with an added emphasis on quality. Proposed changes to the analysis include looking at pricing and data caps and new focuses on connection quality and mobile data.

The FCC is required by Congress to determine whether broadband Internet service is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion. If the answer is "no," the FCC must "take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market."

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler raised the bar in January of this year when he spearheaded a vote to redefine broadband speeds as 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream, compared to the 4Mbps/1Mbps definition the FCC had used in previous years. Now he wants to move beyond speed and evaluate broadband against a variety of factors, including reliability, prices, and data caps. In other words, the next analysis would examine not just whether broadband service is available, but also whether it is affordable, works well, and is not hindered by data limits.

To get ready for the next analysis, the FCC yesterday passed a Notice of Inquiry that "seeks comment on whether to consider standards beyond speed when assessing broadband deployment, including latency and consistency of service," the commission said. "And it asks whether to consider factors beyond physical deployment, including pricing and data allowances, privacy, and broadband adoption."

Evaluating latency will help determine whether satellite Internet service should be considered broadband.

The next annual broadband deployment analysis may also bring mobile data into the mix. That would mean all Americans must have access to both a good home Internet connection and cellular data. The FCC's notice "seek[s] comment on whether consumer access to both mobile and fixed broadband should now be the standard" to judge whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans, the FCC said.

Access to both is important because "Americans increasingly use both fixed and mobile broadband, but for different purposes," the FCC said. "While fixed terrestrial broadband service can have advantages for high-capacity home use, mobile broadband has become increasingly important for many uses, including connecting on social media, navigating during travel, communicating with family and friends, receiving timely news updates, and more."

The FCC would also evaluate whether it should set a speed benchmark for mobile data service.

Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly argued that the FCC shouldn't require access to both fixed and mobile service, saying that mobile will be fast enough to replace home Internet service "as we approach the potential adoption of a new 5G standard in 2020."

In its last broadband deployment assessment, using the new 25Mbps/3Mbps standard, the FCC said it "determined that deployment was not reasonable and timely, finding that nearly 55 million Americans did not have access to broadband capable of delivering high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video offerings."

The FCC found large differences in availability between urban and rural areas, and Wheeler said the FCC will further investigate that disparity.

While Democratic commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel supported yesterday's notice, Republicans Ajit Pai and O'Rielly criticized it, saying the FCC keeps moving the yardstick to "ensure a negative finding" on the question of whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans. "Such a finding is necessary to maintain the limitless regulatory authority over Internet service providers, and perhaps other online entities, that the Commission thinks it has," Pai said.

In February, the FCC used its broadband deployment authority to preempt state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that prevent municipal broadband providers from expanding outside their territories.