NOI for Annual National Broadband Report Should Ask New Questions, Some Say
An FCC notice of inquiry for its annual national broadband deployment report could be released this month after it went on circulation with the commissioners in late July (see 1908020048). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has already voted in dissent, an aide said, because she wants changes such as new questions about whether the FCC should look at performance speed thresholds above the 25 Mbps upstream/3 downstream current minimum standard for broadband. The aide expects the NOI will go public once each commissioner casts a vote. Nothing material has changed in the language since last year's NOI on the same topic, the aide said. An FCC spokesperson didn't comment on the release date for the NOI or say Friday whether all the commissioner votes had been cast.
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The annual broadband deployment report, released in May in docket 18-238 with dissent from Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, got significant backlash from critics who disputed the underlying data (see 1905290017). The FCC is working to improve the way it collects Form 477 broadband access information (see 1907260039).
The NOI could seek comment on whether the FCC should ask Congress for a delay in submitting its next report until it can get better broadband mapping data, said Gigi Sohn of the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy. Now that experts recognize that broadband mapping measurement is inaccurate, she said, she wonders how the FCC can accomplish its task of compiling an annual report. If the FCC does put out a report in 2020, she said it should consider supplementing its data with third-party measurement entities and crowdsourcing: "If we rely on what industry says the measurement is, the report is not going to be good for anything." Ultimately, Sohn would like broadband maps to indicate where broadband service is accessible, and which companies control the connections and how much competition is available market to market.
Sohn also said the FCC shouldn't ask the same questions year to year if broadband technology changes all the time. Consumers should be asked how they use broadband now and whether the 25/3 minimum standard is outdated or should even be labeled "broadband," Sohn said: "They sure as heck should change the standard." She would also like the agency to affirmatively reach out to groups underserved by broadband, particularly tribal communities, "where the numbers always appear better than they are," to get their input on broadband access. "You can never have too much data."