State-level speed tests aren't necessary, the cable and telecom lobby groups argued, because the FCC runs the Measuring Broadband America program to verify whet

State-level speed tests aren't necessary, the cable and telecom lobby groups argued, because the FCC runs the Measuring Broadband America program to verify whether the largest ISPs' in-home broadband speeds match the providers' speed claims. This is where it is astoundingly obvious that lobbyists have no technical sense whatsoever. It's analogous to saying "States shouldn't be allowed to determine their own optimal speed limits based on the terrain of their counties' geography ... or the conditions of the roads themselves. Potholes don't matter. Mountains, ice, etc., ... those local things are all irrelevant. Just tell us if it's a highway or rural road or freeway, and we'll let you know if it's allowing the best speed." I understand why the telecoms are doing this. The ISPs don't want to have to upgrade infrastructure to deliver on their (often nationally)"advertised" promises. And behemoths like Comcast/Xfinity, Verizon, AT&T really don't want to invest in infrastructure that benefits only "the last mile" when they have impatient investors focused on the short-term stock price. It's harder for a local company to lie to its customers... it will go out of business (or get sued into the ground) pretty quickly when it does. But for these entrenched behemoths, they just don't care. And that is really bad for almost everybody.