NTIA won’t have the broadband map it needs for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program until 2023

The Federal Communications Commission plans to come out with the first version of its new broadband map in mid-November. However, National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Alan Davidson indicated his agency won’t use the first rendering to divvy up broadband support. Davidson explained that while the NTIA is eager to get money from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program out the door quickly, “we need to do this accurately.” That means waiting until the FCC's new map has gone through at least one full challenge process. On September 12, the FCC is set to kick off its first challenge process for the underlying location fabric – or grid of serviceable locations – being used for its new map. That process will initially be open to operators and government entities before expanding to include individual challenges from the public once the initial coverage map is released in November. An FCC representative stated that the second version of the fabric is expected to be released in December and will be the basis for the second collection of coverage data from broadband providers. The submission window for the second coverage data collection will be open from December 31, 2022 to March 1, 2023. The timeframe assumes the challenge process goes smoothly and that potential variables like lawsuits don’t spring up, as there are concerns from players across the industry regarding the scale of the FCC's task and its timeframe.