Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act

US Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) successfully pushed the Federal Communications Commission to update its National Broadband Map to more accurately reflect Nevada’s current broadband needs, which is critical for the allocation of funding for high-speed internet from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's (IIJA) $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. A previous, deeply flawed map misrepresented the high-speed internet coverage in Nevada and would have caused the state to lose out on potentially millions of dollars in BEAD funding.

On first look, the new Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map seems to be a step in the right direction. For example, in Alaska, a known problem area, the number of locations and the estimated amount of money allocated increase significantly. But Michigan is another story. Michigan has 71,139 fewer Unserved locations on the new map versus the old one, by far the biggest decrease in the 50 states.

The Federal Communications Commission released an updated National Broadband Map. This is the version of the map that will be used by the NTIA to allocate $42.5 billion in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Overall, as of December 31, 2022, there are 114,537,044 Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) in the country (including territories). That’s a net addition of 1 million BSLs. 7.6% of the BSLs are Unserved, which is 8.67 million, up 808,677 in the 50 states. 3.11% of the BSLs are Underserved, or 3.55 million nationally. There are some surprises.

The Federal Communications Commission is taking another step forward in its iterative effort to develop the best and most accurate broadband maps ever built in the US. The map we are releasing reflects challenges and improvements to the data. It has a lot of updated information about both locations and availability. Here are a few key takeaways:

The next update to the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map will be released on May 30, said FCC senior officials. The map will reflect availability data reported by providers as of December 31, 2022, as well as challenges made more recently to that data. It’s an important development, as this is the version of the map that will be used for making allocations to states in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is preparing to enter a crucial phase for the Internet for All initiative. Soon, it will notify states and territories of their BEAD program allocation amounts. Once those notifications are made, states and territories will have 180 days to submit their initial proposals. NTIA is confident it will have the data it needs to take that step when it makes the allocation announcement by June 30.

Since the passage of the Broadband DATA Act, the Federal Communications Commission has worked carefully to implement the requirements of the law and to begin the iterative data collection and challenge processes envisioned by the Act through the creation of its Broadband Data Collection program. As required by the Broadband DATA Act, the FCC has built an entirely new data-collection system for ingesting, validating, and aggregating both provider data for download and publication on the National Broadband Map. To do so, the Broadband DATA Act required the Commission to develop the Broadband

The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation held a hearing on May 10 discussing federal funding for broadband deployment as part of ongoing efforts to

The ACCESS BROADBAND Act requires the

One of the primary uses of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map for the purposes of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is the allocation process – the process of determining the amount of BEAD funds between the states, territories, and the District of Columbia (“Eligible Entities”).