Improving access: FCC will provide better mapping of underserved areas

A new law requires the Federal Communications Commission to provide better, more accurate maps of broadband internet availability across the United States. The goal of the new law is to ensure federal funding for rural broadband internet service in areas that today lack this 21st century necessity — a need that has become all the more urgent amid the stay-at-home orders resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Broadband mapping is what’s used to direct federal funding to extend internet service to rural and remote areas where service providers are reluctant to build infrastructure because of the limited number of users. The federal Universal Service Fund distributes federal funds — including $8.4 billion in 2018 — to telecommunications carriers for extending internet service to remote areas. The new law should get this money to where it’s most needed in the future.