Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has now given 48 states the green light to start their required Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program challenge process to refine the list of locations that will be eligible for BEAD funding. The starting point for the states is the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map, based on its Broadband Data Collection (BDC), with the state-run challenge process providing stakeholders the opportunity to make updates and corrections.

An Internet service provider (ISP) that admitted lying to the Federal Communications Commission about where it offers broadband will pay a $10,000 fine and implement a compliance plan to prevent future violations. Jefferson County Cable (JCC), a small ISP in Toronto (OH) admitted that it falsely claimed to offer fiber service in an area that it hadn't expanded to yet.

Federal broadband expansion efforts aim to ensure that every American household has a reliable and affordable internet connection in order to learn, work and access online services. But even with a fiber connection, many challenges still stand in the way of access to the internet and digital services. Some are unable to afford the necessary devices or internet services. Others lack a high-quality connection or digital literacy skills altogether.

The broadband availability data that mobile and fixed wireless providers report to the Federal Communications Commission is flawed, according to several rural broadband organizations.

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 broadband coalition called the Accurate Broadband Data Alliance (ABDA) is warning the Federal Communications Commission that its national broadband map contains errors that "will hinder and, in many cases, prevent deployment of essential broadband services by redirecting funds away from areas truly lacking sufficient broadband." In a filing, ABDA alleges that "significant errors" exist throughout the broadband map, due in part to incorrect reporting by some internet service providers. "A number of carriers, including LTD Broadband/GigFire LLC and others, continue to overreport Internet se

My biggest pet peeve about the Federal Communications Commission's mapping is that the agency made the decision to give power over the mapping and map challenge process to CostQuest, an outside commercial vendor. The FCC originally awarded CostQuest $44.9 million to create the broadband maps. Many people think that was an exorbitant amount, but if this was the end of the mapping story, fine.

It will be super complicated for states to define the bidding areas for Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) grants. Some states may define bid areas by census blocks, school districts, or some other defined geography or cluster, while other states may go with a “free-for-all” approach, allowing bidders to say where they want to bid.

The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force announced that the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data as of December 31, 2023, will open on January 2, 2024.

We write in response to your testimony at the December 5, 2023, hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology titled, “Oversight of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).” Throughout the hearing, you provided troubling answers that suggested that the NTIA would permit rate regulation by states participating in the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.