‘The next eight weeks are critical for our federal efforts to connect the unconnected,’ says assistant secretary of commerce
The Federal Communications Commission plans to release newly updated broadband maps on November 18, and the Biden administration has announced that once those maps undergo an initial challenge period, they’ll be used as the basis to allocate billions of dollars in federal broadband funding.
The FCC said that it will release a “pre-production draft” of maps which detail the extent of broadband deployments across the country, adding that “this version is the first release of the map required by the Broadband DATA Act and will begin an ongoing, iterative process that will improve the data submitted by providers by incorporating challenges from individuals and other stakeholders.”
The maps are based on provider submissions and are suppose to reflect the state of deployments as of June 30, 2022. Previous maps tracked broadband deployment at the census-block level and considered the entire block served if any locations within the block were served; this masked unserved locations within the same census block.
The FCC says the maps will be searchable by address and that it will accept bulk challenges to the new maps from state and Tribal governments, as well as challenges from individuals.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said today that it plans to allow an eight-week period of challenges to the maps, then use the maps as they stand at that point as the basis for funding allocations for its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is the vehicle for distribution of more than $42 billion in broadband funding that will be directed to U.S. states and territories.
NTIA plans to make those funding announcements by June 30, 2023.
“The next eight weeks are critical for our federal efforts to connect the unconnected,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. “The FCC’s upcoming challenge process is one of the best chances to ensure that we have accurate maps guiding us as we allocate major Internet for All awards in 2023. I urge every state and community that believes it can offer improvements to be part of this process so that we can deliver on the promise of affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service for everyone in America.”
