Data & Mapping

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) and the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) initiated the urban rate survey for 2023. The information collected in this survey will be used to develop voice and broadband reasonable comparability benchmarks that will be in place in 2023. The FCC e will be collecting the rates offered by a random sample of providers of fixed services identified using December 2021 FCC Form 477 data.

I think there are a lot of broadband providers that are not participating in the Federal Communications Commission's data collection effort that the industry refers to as the broadband maps. I often run across small regional wireless service providers (WISPs) and occasionally across fiber overbuilders that are not listed in the database. These broadband providers generally have a website that lists broadband rates and coverage areas – but for whatever reason, these broadband providers do not participate in the FCC mapping database. My guess in most cases is that these small broadband provid

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced his agency has selected data company LightBox to develop the state’s broadband availability map. The map will help the Comptroller’s Broadband Development Office (BDO) determine where to invest public funding in areas most in need of broadband connectivity as it implements the Texas Broadband Plan. LightBox, which provides a geospatial mapping service, also has been employed by state officials in Georgia, Alabama and Montana to help create detailed broadband coverage maps.

The government’s $42.5 billion plan to expand internet service to underserved communities is stuck in a holding pattern nearly nine months after approval, largely because authorities still don’t know where gaps need to be filled.

The Federal Communications Commission released Form 477 data as of June 30, 2021. The top lines of the release are: 3.6 million housing units (as of 2019 projections) unserved by 25/3 broadband, which is 2.55 percent of the 141 million housing units nationally.

Gov Reynolds (R-IA) and the Department of Management Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) announced the release of a new broadband map of Iowa, reporting the conditions of broadband availability in accordance with federal grant guidelines at over 1 million locations throughout the state. The public can view the map here.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA)—in conjunction with the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB)—released updated data on fixed broadband deployment, and mobile voice and broadband deployment as of June 30, 2021. The data includes revisions made by filers through June 28, 2022, while the mobile deployment data include revisions made by filers through November 14, 2021 These data were collected through FCC Form 477 and will be made available on the FCC’s website.

The Federal Communications Commission launched its Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program on June 30, 2022.

Microsoft released a new Digital Equity Data Dashboard to help create better understanding of the economic opportunity gaps in towns, cities and neighborhoods across the United States. The new tool was developed by Chief Data Science Officer Juan Lavista Ferres and the Microsoft AI for Good Lab, and aggregates public data from the Census Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, BroadbandNow and Microsoft’s own Broadband Usage Data.

The Federal Communications Commission responded to a Petition for Declaratory Ruling or Limited Waiver filed by the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA). CCA requested that the FCC issue a declaratory ruling to clarify that Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filings may be certified by either an engineer licensed by the relevant state licensure board (i.e., a Professional Engineer) or an otherwise-qualified engineer. In the alternative, CCA requested that the FCC provide a limited waiver from the requirement that a Professional Engineer certify the data.