[Satellite TODAY 02-15-13] The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its annual benchmarking study of broadband speeds and, for the first time, a satellite provider was included. ViaSat’s Exede Satellite Internet service debuted at the top spot for exceeding advertised speeds.

 

    The 2013 Measuring Broadband America: A Report on Consumer Wireline Performance in the U.S. measures the real service performance for thousands of broadband subscribers across the nation. The report is the result of a public-private partnership between the FCC, its contractor SamKnows, and ISPs representing 80 percent of the residential market. ItFCC Report: ViaSat Exede Internet Service Exceeds Advertised Speeds

 includes results for four ISP delivery technologies: DSL, cable, fiber and satellite; and evaluates services from 14 of the nation’s largest broadband providers.

 

    "In our testing, we found that during peak periods 90 percent of ViaSat consumers received 140 percent or better of the advertised speed of 12 Mbps (download speeds)," the report stated. "In addition, there was very little difference between peak and non-peak performance."

 

    According to the report, ViaSat’s Exede Internet delivered 161 percent of advertised upload speeds; residential fiber and cable delivered 108 percent, while DSL delivered 99 percent.

 

    Issued by the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, the full report is available at the FCC’s website.