Op-Ed: FCC Making Progress on More Accurate Broadband Maps

This was originally published by Real Clear Policy on March 8, 2022.

New Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maps may be ready this summer. The hope is that these new maps will help identify the areas of the country that are lacking broadband service. With billions of taxpayer dollars slated to be spent to close the digital divide, these updated maps are sorely needed to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted and that broadband is deployed to the areas of the country that need it the most.

Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gina Raimondo said recently to a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations that her office has talked closely with the FCC about map development, an important component of closing the digital divide. Broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will not be distributed until more accurate maps are developed. Broadband Breakfast noted that’s to avoid the issues that have occurred with overbuilding through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

The infrastructure bill prioritizes unserved areas first, and underserved areas second, trying to avoid past mistakes. Considering that there’s $42.5 billion to dole out, getting it right is important.

In recent years, there have been plenty of critics of inaccurate mapping and overbuilding. Last summer, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of DOC, released its own broadband deployment map. While it corrected some errors regarding unserved areas from older FCC maps, the NTIA effort had its detractors. That includes NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, which told Fierce Wireless that the new map “obscured, rather than clarified, the true state of broadband with this mashup of disparate, and often inaccurate, data sources.”

The NTIA map focused solely on fixed broadband services, and does not include wireless, fixed wireless, satellite, TV white spaces, and other technologies.

While federal regulators say that at least 18 million Americans lack reliable connectivity, the number might be higher. No one knows for sure due to the mapping issue.

The Center Square previously reported that former President Trump signed into law in 2020 the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act. This tasked the FCC with collecting broadband maps from wired, fixed wireless and satellite broadband providers and using those maps to help decide where broadband should be funded.Under that law, the FCC could also consider the collection of verified coverage data from other entities such as state and local governments and crowdsourcing would be allowed so that the public can participate in data collection. Nearly $100 million was allocated for the project.

 

During the subcommittee hearing with Raimondo, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), fretted about the possibility that some areas of his state could be mislabeled as served when they are not. In response, Raimondo said NTIA would hire one person in each state as a point person to help best determine needs. She also suggested to senators that their state broadband offices should submit funding plans to help guide federal regulators. 

 

Building accurate broadband maps is an important step in making sure taxpayer money isn’t wasted in the effort to close the digital divide. It’s good to see that progress is being made to pinpoint which areas are truly unserved.

 

Johnny Kampis is Director of Telecom Policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.