Predictably, comments by satellite and mobile wireless providers to the Federal Communications Commission on minimum broadband speeds have been criticized for setting minimum speeds that are too low, generally 768 kbps in the downstream direction and 200 kbps in the upstream.
Keeping in mind that those standards are minimums, not maximums, standards that are "platform neutral," in a world where different networks have distinct advantages and limitations, must not exclude some providers that are technologically limited in terms of speed, though other attributes of service, such as mobility or extreme low cost, are quite favorable.
That is not to argue that 768 kbps is the best, or only, minimum standard that is platform neutral. It simply is a standard all providers can supply now, as a minimum, on a widespread basis.
Keep in mind that nobody has to buy such services. Fixed wireline and wireless services blew past those speeds long ago. The 768 kbps standard primarily is an issue for at least one satellite provider, and sometimes will be an issue for mobile broadband services, at some locations.
The 768 kbps definition therefore bars no contestants and preserves maximum consumer choice. The marketplace already has moved on to megabit speeds, in most locations. Where megabit speeds are not available, it typically is rural and isolated locations where the cost to provide higher speeds is an issue.
It might be wise public policy not to bar such locations from getting broadband, even at lower speeds, as fast as possible.
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