Data & Mapping

The US Government Accountability Office was asked to examine the current state of broadband investment and deployment. This report examines (1) industry and federal investments to deploy broadband in the US since 2009, and (2) efforts federal agencies are making to address deployment challenges.

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) has been collecting speed tests from his constituents to turn over to the Federal Communication Commission to prove their broadband data maps are wrong. His initial goal of collecting 1,000 speed tests in 2020 was accomplished the week of June 22. He says he's now looking to reach 1,500 or even 2,000. “This just a small sampling,” Sen Manchin said. “This is happening all over America. Rural America is getting left behind.

Items on the Federal Communications Commission's July 2020 agenda:

On June 24, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and other House Reps introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302) which invests $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable.

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), members of the House Rural Broadband Task Force, and House Democrats introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302). The bill would invest $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable. The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act would do the following:

The Senate Commerce Committee held a nomination hearing on June 16 that featured Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly. Commissioner O'Rielly's term expired at the end of June 2019, but commissioners can continue to serve until the close of the next Congress. The new term would date from July 1, 2019. 

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held the hearing "Oversight of FCC Spectrum Auctions Program" in which Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai testified. Leading the hearing was Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy (R-LA), one of the harshest critics of the FCC decision to give satellite companies close to $10 billion in incentive payments to exit the C-Band spectrum by 2021 and 2023 instead of the 2025 deadline the FCC set.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH), and fellow subcommittee Republican members urged House Appropriators to provide funding for improved broadband mapping, which is vital for deploying broadband and bridging the digital divide.

America took an involuntary crash course in remote learning. With the school year now winding down, the grade from students, teachers, parents and administrators is already in: It was a failure. School districts closed campuses in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic and, with practically no time at all for planning or training, launched a grand experiment to educate more than 50 million students from kindergarten through 12th grade using technology. The problems began piling up almost immediately. There were students with no computers or internet access.

On April 3, 2020, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to ensure that as the FCC begins the mapping efforts required under the Broadband DATA Act (which President Donald Trump signed on March 23, 2020), that the FCC include community anchor institutions such as health care facilities, schools, and libraries.