Tough Road Said Ahead for FCC to Strengthen Broadband Data Collection

The act that became law Oct. 10 requires the FCC to include international comparisons in its Section 706 broadband report, covering at least 75 communities in 25 countries. The FCC must also do a survey on broadband service throughout the country using Census data. “Periodic” consumer surveys to determine types of technology used and prices must be gathered. Survey results must be made available to the public at least once a year. The legislation also requires the regulator to provide eligible entities electronic access to data collected from Form 477 submissions. And the FCC must work with NTIA on an expansion of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to collect information on residential broadband usage and computer ownership.

USTelecom cited “numerous, existing data resources” on domestic broadband deployment at the FCC’s disposal. The agency should look at data collected through Form 477, and consult with the Pew Research Center, One Economy and Connected Nation, it said. The commission could also get data from the Commerce Department, Rural Utilities Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it said.

But getting good international data will be tricky, commenters said. “We are not aware of an existing source covering a large number of countries that would directly address the requirements of the BDIA,” said Scott Marcus, a former senior advisor for Internet technology at the FCC, and now director of a research institute in Germany. That means the FCC will probably need to tap a “fair number of data sources, many of which are specific to a single country,” he said.

The FCC shouldn’t rely on reports by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, broadband providers said. “The OECD data is inherently limited because there are inadequate controls on how the data is collected by member governments,” said Comcast, and “because the governments themselves often have an interest in reporting high numbers of broadband users.” The FCC should work with OECD “to revise and improve the organization’s analysis of international broadband rates,” USTelecom suggested. “Such parallel efforts by the Commission and OECD would maximize their limited resources, while also painting a clearer and more accurate picture of domestic and international broadband deployment.”

To make meaningful comparisons among countries, the FCC must account for “a variety of different technical, demographic, economic, regulatory and other factors that may influence broadband deployment and adoption,” AT&T said. The FCC’s data collection should cover “all broadband technologies,” including wireline, wireless and satellite, and both business and mass-market customers, Verizon said.

The international report should compare pro-competitive policies in different countries, said XO Communications and NextLink Wireless in joint comments. The FCC should identify successful government policies promoting competition, and determine whether they can be adapted for the U.S., they said. “Numerous foreign administrations have established rigorous unbundling rules which permit competitive providers to obtain access to unbundled network elements … from incumbents at reasonable prices,” the companies said.

To satisfy the consumer survey requirement of the act, the FCC should team with the U.S. Census Bureau, AT&T said. “It is unlikely that the Commission would have the resources or expertise to complete this task by itself,” said the carrier. It said the Census Bureau has experience doing consumer surveys on broadband for NTIA’s “Nation Online” and “Networked Nation” reports. Comcast agreed the FCC shouldn’t work alone, but recommended the commission partner with “independent, university-based experts.” To maintain an open process, the FCC should seek comment on the selection of a university, and on survey content and methods, the company said. All results should be subject to peer review, and all data and analyses should be made public, it said.

The survey should distinguish between fiber- and copper- based broadband, XO and NextLink said. Carriers can still use copper loops to provide high-speed services, and copper will support “even greater transmission speeds in the future,” the competitive carriers said. By collecting data on copper separately from fiber, the FCC “could gain a better understanding of the competitive harm caused by incumbent local exchange carriers’ … ongoing, unchecked retirement of copper plant,” they said.

The survey should collect data on people with communication disabilities, said the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology. “There remains a paucity of comprehensive data about broadband subscribership among this population,” COAT said. The FCC should collect data on broadband subscribership, affordability and barriers to subscribership, it said.

Last week’s comments focused on FCC requirements under the act, but the law also directs several other government bodies. Congress put NTIA in charge of awarding grants to entities for creating broadband inventory maps, which must be based on FCC data on speed and service. Grantees must post mapping data on a Commerce Department Web page open to the public. The Comptroller General is required to complete a study by Oct. 10 evaluating broadband metrics used by government and industry. Specifically, the study must provide standards for accurately calculating service prices, measurement of actual speeds and comparisons with other countries. The study must provide recommendations for how industry and the FCC can use the data to improve quality of broadband data and better evaluate service. Finally, the act requires the Small Business Administration to produce a report in two years measuring the impact of broadband availability for small businesses.

Advice to FCC

Meanwhile, in a separate docket, a handful of companies and groups offered the FCC advice on how the regulator should fulfill responsibilities to provide advice to NTIA and RUS on their broadband programs, as directed by Congress in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. (See separate report in this issue.) By our deadline Monday, most of those filing reiterated the advice they're offering to NTIA and RUS.

“The Public Notice seeks comment on the definition of five concepts, among which is the definition of ‘broadband,'” said the American Radio Relay League. “This is the most urgent of the Commission’s consultative issues with NTIA pursuant to the Recovery Act.” ARRL said the “threshold for what constitutes ‘broadband’ is a critical determination that will inevitably determine the success or failure of the … program going forward.” But it also observed that in the past the FCC has struggled with this definition.

The Michigan Public Service Commission “strongly” recommended that the FCC increase minimum transmission speeds as it determines the definitions it will recommend for broadband services. In defining unserved and underserved, the commission said unserved should be no access to broadband. In looking at whether an area is under served, the government should take into account the area’s “economic conditions, including, but not limited to, family income, affordability of access, lack of options available, low percentage of residents subscribing, and any other criteria considered important,” the commission said.

Qwest said the FCC has a major role to play but cautioned about confusion that could follow if NTIA goes beyond the FCC’s four open access principles. Adoption of the principles would help ensure that funds “are distributed in as speedy a fashion as possible in order to stimulate the economy,” Qwest said. “As Congress recognized, the Commission has ‘considerable expertise’ in these matters,” NCTA said. “The Commission should apply this expertise to ensure that the Congressional directives to expand broadband deployment are met in a competitively-neutral and technologically-neutral manner.”