Gaming the BEAD Maps

From all over the country, I’m hearing stories about internet service providers who are gaming the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband maps in order to block areas from being eligible for the BEAD grants. It’s relatively easy for a provider to do this. All that’s needed is to declare the capability to deliver a speed of 100/20 Mbps in the FCC maps. Providers can largely do this with impunity. The archaic FCC rules allow providers to claim ‘up-to’ marketing speeds in the maps. A lot of providers decided to start claiming 100/20 Mbps capabilities in the last update to the FCC maps. It’s not hard to understand the motivation for this. When a provider declares 100/20 Mbps speed capability, the area is removed from BEAD grant eligibility. The provider operating in that area will have squelched a new competitor from entering the market using BEAD grants. The NTIA’s and the FCC’s response to this issue is that it is the responsibility of communities to police this issue and to engage in the upcoming state BEAD mapping challenges. I can barely talk about that position without sputtering in anger. Most counties are not equipped to understand the real speeds that are available from a provieder. From my own informal survey, I don’t think that even 10% of counties are considering a map challenge.