Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act

On December 22, 2022, members of the US Senate wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urging the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to extend the deadline to submit location and availability challenges to the FCC’s broadband maps by at least 60 days, or until March 14, 2023.

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether broadband-service providers exaggerated their level of coverage to authorities preparing to distribute billions of dollars in subsidies. At issue are claims by carriers that they already provide high-speed internet service to rural and other underserved areas where it’s not actually available. The Biden administration is awarding $42.5 billion to increase access in these locations. Areas served and unserved are being marked on a map compiled by the FCC.

As Los Angeles County officials work with community coalitions to improve high-speed Internet access in underserved communities across the region, the Digital Equity LA Summit focused on the challenges ahead: urging state officials to fix the broadband priority maps the state will use to target where to invest $2 billion in state broadband grant funds with the state months away from receiving over a billion additional dollars from the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Representing the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) were Michael Mullaney, Preside

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a “pre-production” draft of its new National Broadband Map in an effort to provide more precise details about where internet service does and does not exist in individual locations across the US. While much attention has been paid to how the map represents broadband service for individual households, there is much less understanding among the general public with regards to how the map represents individual community anchor institutions, such as public schools, libraries, and hospitals.

If you zoom into Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on the Federal Communication Commission’s broadband map, it doesn’t take long to realize something doesn’t look right.

The American Library Association and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition spoke with the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force staff and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s advisor on Feb. 6, 2023 about including community anchor institutions (CAIs) on the FCC’s National Broadband Map. The groups expressed concerns about the current treatment of libraries and said CAIs that purchase mass-market broadband service should be included on the map.

Matthew Hillier can't get Comcast service at his home in Arvada, CO. But that didn't stop Comcast from claiming it serves his house when it submitted data for the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband map. Comcast eventually admitted to the FCC that it doesn't serve the address—but only after Ars got involved.

Tiny Gerlach, NV, looks like the ideal place to receive some of the $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding targeted to provide internet access to underserved areas. There’s just one catch: The town of 161, gateway to the state’s Black Rock Desert, already has broadband access, according to a government map showing that T-Mobile US Inc. provides service there.

Ryan Grewell, who runs a small wireless Internet service provider called Smart Way Communications in Ohio, filed challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband map after his customers noticed that the FCC map falsely reported fiber Internet service was available at their homes. The FCC data was provided by Jefferson County Cable. In a reply to Grewell's challenges,  Jefferson County Cable Executive Bob Loveridge wrote, "You challenged that we do not have service at your residence and indeed we don't today.

An earlier model estimated how far the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding might go, using estimates of the unserved and underserved from the old Form 477 data. The prediction was that with an optimal allocation between states, there would be almost enough money to reach all the unserved and underserved. Well, we’re getting closer to real and final data, and an update is in: $41.4 billion at an average national cost of $6,214 per location should reach 6.7 million locations.