With more than 60 million Americans currently unconnected to broadband, state broadband mapping is among one of the most crucial infrastructure tasks in the U.S. today, requiring cooperation and coordination between federal and state government bodies and the private sector Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Yet even with ample federal money available as a result of the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Bill, which allotted $42.5 billion for broadband, few states have created the comprehensive, granular maps to inform and guide grant program decisions to expand broadband access in unserved and underserved areas.
From 2010-2015, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provided money for states to undertake broadband mapping at the census block and road-segment level. When this stimulus program ended, the FCC took over the mapping program. In a widely criticized effort, the FCC mapped broadband availability at the census block level, which resulted in Congress passing the Broadband Data Improvement Act. This legislation directed the FCC to map broadband availability to every address in the county to precisely target funds to maximize their impact and prevent waste.
When stimulus funding ended in 2015, most states closed their broadband offices. A few, including Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Utah, kept the lights on and launched their grant programs using state funds. The mapping was carried out until recently, and has relied on FCC477 data (census block level), speed tests, and surveys to approximate where broadband services are available.
But these colorful and intricate broadband maps don’t accurately identify unserved locations - just read the fine print. If a state has not developed its database of address locations based on structures - or hired someone to do this - it won’t be able to map broadband availability accurately. And it will not be able to file a challenge to the new FCC ‘fabric’. Only a few states are building databases that link address locations to structures to prepare for future use of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) or Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds.
States dealing with the effects of the lingering pandemic have come to realize the importance of broadband connectivity for remote school, work and climate-related emergencies. Their legislatures are determining how state rules will govern newly formed broadband offices. Officials are rushing to deal with various regulations and requirements, with little time to implement the policies necessary to meet broadband funding requirements.
States have two basic mapping options: they can wait for the FCC to complete the national location database fabric that will play a large part of their process to determine eligible locations for each state’s BEAD funding allocation, or challenge the FCC map results with local level detailed data that they have acquired internally or by contract. For states who are running their own broadband grant program in an effort to close the digital divide and maximize the funds they receive can; continue approximating unserved locations, contract with a company who has the tools and data to to build accurate maps or consult with them to improve the accuracy of their local level maps.
States that don’t have a fabric database and collect ISP availability to the location level won’t be able to challenge the FCC’s new fabric or the broadband availability data that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will use to allocate BEAD funds.
The FCC has indicated there will be two challenging processes, one for the fabric (addressing location data) and one for the broadband availability results. States hoping to raise challenges will have to provide their data and evidence using the same fabric format and identify the methodology used to develop the fabric and/or the broadband availability results. Those who have obtained an accurate location broadband fabric and ISP data collection will be positioned to pose credible challenges and get corrections. If this happens transparently and objectively with qualified subject matter experts, the challenge process can be beneficial if it improves the completeness and accuracy of the results.
State broadband offices face a broad array of challenges and issues to manage through with limited resources to meet federal program requirements and timetables of funding access program setup and grant implementation. With numerous data sources available for analysis, governments must take advantage of everything possible and not rely on traditional methods. Companies, such as LightBox, is focused on state broadband mapping with its off the shelf broadband fabric and experienced mapping team which is supporting multiple states today, including Texas, Montana and Wyoming.
