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Outdated Data? Delayed Release.

Comments Due Nov. 22 on 3-2 Broadband Deployment NOI

A notice of inquiry for the FCC's annual broadband deployment report was adopted 3-2 Oct. 4 and posted Wednesday afternoon. Comments are due Nov. 22, replies Dec. 9, in docket 19-285. The NOI circulated in July (see 1908090012) and concerns were raised about incorrect data. Now, Democratic commissioners' concerns focused on lack of better data collection methods. The FCC proposed to maintain 25/3 Mbps as the metric for fixed broadband and will take comment on whether another approach is justified.

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The NOI seeks comment on effects of its efforts to close the digital divide, "as well as any individual efforts we might undertake." It seeks "comment on the effectiveness of USF funding in driving the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability." The NOI asked, "Has the commission been effective in its efforts to increase deployment by targeting USF funding to unserved areas in order to extend the reach of networks to all Americans? What more should we do to expand access to spectrum to support or supplement wireless and satellite broadband services?"

The last report, released in May, came under criticism for being overly optimistic in its assessment (see 1905010205). The NOI acknowledged that given reliance on form 477, the FCC may have overstated deployment of fixed broadband services at census block level. It said it has introduced new data collection methods that will be used "in parallel with the current form 477 collection." It asked that any commenters objecting to 477 data use here "provide recommendations for alternative datasets or supplements to the FCC form 477 data that could be used to help guide our analysis."

The past two annual reports indicate "deployment of advanced telecommunications capability on many tribal lands continues to lag deployment in other, non-tribal area," the NOI said. "We seek comment on additional considerations, such as difficulties involving rights-of-way, that could be preventing deployment that might otherwise occur." It noted statistics show this gap.

In dissent, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called the asymmetrical speed approach dated. "With extraordinary changes in data processing and cloud storage, upload speeds should be rethought. Download speeds are all about consumption, but upload speeds provide us with opportunities for production." Rosenworcel said the data used in the last assessment "is seriously flawed." She said it systematically overstates service across the country and has been the subject of endless criticism.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks made similar arguments. The FCC's proposing to use "the same flawed data that, against my objection, we are using to target an additional $16 billion in Universal Service support over the upcoming decade," he said. "Good decisions require good data, and we have to do better than this."

Chairman Ajit Pai wishes "we could just snap our fingers and implement the new data collection immediately, but that's not the way the real world works." He said the FCC has a statutory duty to report on the state of U.S. broadband deployment. "It will help us build the record" to use for future analysis, he said.

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly acknowledged Pai agreed to modify the draft to address his concerns that recent annual reports relied on a "technologically anachronistic evaluation framework." O'Rielly said the updated NOI "opens the door to a more forward-thinking evaluative approach and has my support."

Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy's Gigi Sohn called the 25/3 definition for broadband "woefully out of date. For an agency that prides itself in being data driven, it is willfully turning a blind eye to the realities of broadband access, affordability, usage and speeds."