Data & Mapping

Four specific steps government, with industry’s cooperation, can take to make availability and affordability a reality for every American:

Looking ahead, the biggest challenge facing the long-term health of the FCC’s universal service programs is the way they are funded. We are in a unique position to solve this challenge. Here’s how. Back when I was a Commissioner in 2016, I proposed that Congress should authorize a dividend from the sale of wireless spectrum that would go toward closing the digital divide. Whenever the FCC auctioned spectrum for flexible use, we would set aside 10% of the net auction proceeds for the deployment of broadband in unserved communities. I thought it was a good idea then.

Among the Department of Commerce's accomplishments in 2020:

Now is time for the Federal Communications Commission to restructure its fixed broadband definitions so that they better reflect consumer demand and market realities and are more resilient to the accelerating pace of technological change. In addition, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (Broadband Commission) should lead an effort to develop globally-harmonized and future-proof broadband definitions, that do not continually relegate people in some countries to second class connectivity.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity of broadband became incontrovertible. Attending school, working from home, visiting a doctor, and accessing government services all relied on reliable broadband connections. For many, bridging the digital divide emerged as an even-more-urgent priority. We’ve tracked the stories that best explain the complexities of the digital divide and the crucial policy responses. Here’s our list. 

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology released a report on measuring fixed broadband, finding, among other things: the weighted average advertised speed of the participating broadband providers was 146.1 Mbps, representing an 8% increase from the previous year and over a 100% increase from two years prior; and for most of the major broadband providers tested, measured download speeds were 100% or better than advertised speeds during the peak hours.

As a director of a state broadband program, one of my biggest challenges is data. I know lots of areas in my state have inadequate or no service. I get those emails every day. We have a public facing broadband map which is based on the data that the internet service providers (ISPs) provide to the FCC on what is known as the Form 477. The notorious problem with the 477 data is that gross inaccuracies are built into the reporting.

By its own motion, the Federal Communications Commission waived its rules to allow rate-of-return carriers (i.e. a telephone company that provided local service prior to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which owns most of the local loops and facilities in a serving area) to include their actual rates for consumer broadband-only lines for the first three months of 2019 on their FCC Form 509, rather than imputing revenues based on the maximum rate that would have been assessable.

Across the country, the Federal Communications Commission and internet service providers are pretending there’s competition in an unimaginable number of places where it doesn’t actually exist. We consistently pay more than Europe regardless of speed, according to a fascinating, approachable study you should read from the New America think tank.

School districts and cities across the country are racing to bridge a digital divide that has existed for decades. At least 39 states have said they would use funds from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act to help school districts close the tech gap. The fixes can be fairly simple. School-district and municipal IT departments are using technology that has been around for years, such as solar-powered antennas to transmit Wi-Fi, or wireless broadband, closer to more peoples’ homes.