Chairman Pai Statement on the Broadband Data Act

I applaud the President for signing the Broadband DATA Act and thank the leadership of the Senate and House Commerce Committees for their bipartisan work in moving this legislation through Congress. The Act affirms the Federal Communications Commission’s approach to collecting more precise and granular broadband data through our new Digital Opportunity Data Collection program. At this point, it is vital for Congress to provide the FCC as soon as possible with the appropriations necessary to implement the Act. Right now, the FCC does not have the funding to carry out the Act, as we have warned for some time. And given the Act’s prohibition on the Universal Service Administrative Company performing this mapping work, if Congress does not act soon, this well-intentioned legislation will have the unfortunate effect of delaying rather than expediting the development of better broadband maps. I look forward to working with Congress in the weeks ahead to secure this funding, so that we can ensure that we have the best tools available for bridging the digital divide for the American people.