Who Should Report to the FCC Mapping?

I think there are a lot of broadband providers that are not participating in the Federal Communications Commission's data collection effort that the industry refers to as the broadband maps. I often run across small regional wireless service providers (WISPs) and occasionally across fiber overbuilders that are not listed in the database. These broadband providers generally have a website that lists broadband rates and coverage areas – but for whatever reason, these broadband providers do not participate in the FCC mapping database. My guess in most cases is that these small broadband providers don’t think they are required to report – they either don’t even know about the database, or they don’t fear any repercussions for not reporting. A small-city fiber network might be bringing multi-gigabit broadband to city buildings or a handful of businesses, and nobody knows about it. But at least part of the blame for this lies at the FCC, because the agency doesn’t have clear guidelines in plain English defining who is a broadband provider, with examples. Regardless, it might not help even if the FCC did, since it seems that many small broadband providers barely know the FCC exists.