- The Senate has passed a bill to improve the FCC’s broadband map
- Senators have become interested in the map now that BEAD funds are being disbursed based on mapping data
- But Congress moves slow, and most BEAD locations might be finalized before updated processes are implemented for the FCC’s map
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its contract partner CostQuest have been agonizing over the U.S. broadband map for more than five years. They really doubled-down on the effort to create an accurate nationwide map when the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program started.
Now, coming in at the 9th inning, the U.S. Senate has passed a bill — SB 2585 MAP for Broadband Funding Act — that would require the FCC to reevaluate its national broadband map. The bill would have the FCC determine if the scope of data used for the map should be expanded, whether third-party mapping data should be incorporated and how frequently the map should be updated, among other things.
Fierce spoke with Bob Bartz, EVP of engineering services with CHR Solutions, a company that helps operators design and build fiber networks. We asked why in the world Congress would suddenly feel the need to intervene in the FCC’s mapping processes?
Bartz said it relates to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and specifically, the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that sprung out of it. Now that states are finally receiving BEAD funds and awarding them to operators, Congress is worried the map isn’t up to snuff and taxpayer dollars will be wasted.
“I think what's driving this is that they [states] are actually spending money now, and all these cracks in the map and all these errors in the map are all of the sudden really apparent because they're being challenged and reviewed,” said Bartz.
In fact, Arielle Roth, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in March, bragging that no BEAD money was being awarded to the District of Columbia because there weren’t any legitimate eligible locations, even though the FCC’s map said that there were.
And recently, when the FCC did one of its bi-annual updates to the broadband map, it resulted in about 35% of BEAD locations awarded to satellite operators being removed because the locations are already served.
Bartz said if we hadn’t had the BEAD program, then the FCC and CostQuest would have continued plodding along with their bi-annual updates and their established processes.
He supports the Senate bill and especially a couple of the potential improvements. Bartz said, “I think one thing the FCC should do is require internet service providers to provide updates almost in real time. So, if you take an area live with a fiber feed, within 60 days you should report that to the FCC so that they're getting updates as the network develops.”
He would also like the FCC to accept data from third parties such as CHR Solutions. “If they would take the data that the engineering firms are developing during their design work and fielding and incorporate that, they could probably clean up some of their data quicker.”
The Senate passed the bill. What's next?
Speaking of “quicker,” Congressional processes are not that.
Even though a bill has passed the Senate, it will now go to the House where the representatives are likely to make changes, and they’ll have to vote on some final version. And if they pass a mapping bill, it will have to be signed by the President. Bartz said there won’t be any new mapping legislation for at least a year.
But even if BEAD doesn’t fully benefit from the best possible broadband map, it will be a nice thing to have for future projects. And BEAD, itself, will help improve the map immensely.
“This data is used by internet service providers to look at markets and see if they want to go into that market,” said Bartz. “The more accurate the data gets, the less they have to invest upfront in assuring the data is accurate to get to a reliable feasibility.”
Read more Fierce Network stories about the broadband map
Is BEAD turning into a dud? Voices raise various concerns about the program
Satellite operators might not take such a big slice of BEAD after all