States Must Be the Truth Arbiters of Broadband Coverage, Say Experts

States must be the arbiter of coverage disputes for the allocation of coming federal funds, said broadband experts. The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program directs states to design their own grant programs. To successfully implement these state grant programs, states must “be the source of truth for challenges,” said Peggy Schaffer of mapping software company VETRO. It is the responsibility of states to determine truth by sifting through many sources of coverage claims, said Schaffer. In this way, states will become arbiters of truth that can be trusted to effectively manage federal grant money and narrow the digital divide in its communities. In response to concerns that states are not equipped to effectively audit broadband providers, Schaffer simply stated that they “will have to be prepared.”