President Biden’s ambitious broadband funding has a key impediment: an outdated map of who needs it

The federal government is slated to pump a record amount of funding into projects to expand Internet access and affordability. But there is a critical obstacle to the historic investment: a dearth of accurate data about which Americans actually have access to Internet service. With $65 billion allocated to improve broadband, President Biden has claimed the infrastructure law will fundamentally transform the Internet, making high-speed access as ubiquitous as electricity, ensuring that tens of millions of Americans will soon be able to logon with speeds required for the basic activities of everyday life: to work remotely, to attend school, to access telemedicine. And $42 billion of that figure will be largely distributed among states to ensure broadband reaches even the most remote, unserved “last mile” customers. The problems with the FCC’s maps have been well documented for years. Telecommunications experts, lawmakers and even the agency’s commissioners acknowledge that the maps overestimate the number of Americans who have reliable Internet connections. Because the maps are based on census data, if even one household in a census block — a statistical area that conveys population data — has broadband available, then the agency considers the entire group served. In rural areas, one block could cover dozens of square miles, creating an inaccurate picture. Without accurate maps, infrastructure funding can’t be distributed to states since the government can’t assess where funding should be allocated.