Will the FCC Maps Get Better?

It is unfortunate timing that the new Federal Communications Commission broadband map was issued in the middle of the process of trying to determine the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant funding. Congress said that the amount of funding that will go to each state must be based upon the FCC map – and the first draft is clearly flawed. However, assuming that that grant funding question gets resolved somehow, there remains the bigger issue of whether the new FCC map will ever accurately portray broadband availability. Getting a better map requires improving the three basic flaws: the mapping fabric that defines the location of possible customers, the claimed coverage that defines where broadband is available, and the broadband speeds available to customers. The mapping fabric will get better over time if state and local governments decide this is something that is important to fix. Additionally, the coverage challenge is only going to get better if broadband providers report honestly. But I doubt that the map will ever be significantly better than the old one. I think after the flurry associated with allocating the BEAD grant funding ends that most people and local governments will quickly lose interest in the map challenge process.