UPDATE Senate Commerce Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) wants the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to reevaluate how it collects data and make sure it uses only accurate and current information to update its broadband maps. “Although it is a novel approach to the challenge, I am concerned that this map is as inaccurate as previous federal maps,” he said to NTIA Acting Chief Evelyn Remaly.
He describes the agency’s recently released “Indicators of Broadband Need” interactive tool as a “novel approach.” However, “releasing it has only created confusion regarding the state of broadband availability in the United States,” he says.
Critics say the interactive map — which includes a disclaimer about its accuracy — relies on the same faulty data as previous maps, Inside Towers reported. The FCC is working to improve that data, although new maps with more granular data aren’t expected to be released until next year.
He agrees with critics who say the data used is outdated. “The map includes data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which the Census last compiled in 2019—two years ago. Second, the map relies on the FCC’s census-block level availability data. This data vastly overstates broadband coverage, and the FCC is actively replacing it with more granular, accurate data,” writes Wicker in the letter to Remaly.
He notes the map uses speed-test and usage data that can be affected by a number of variables, including the end-user’s equipment. “As a result, we have a map that overstates coverage in some areas and understates it in others, leaving us with a skewed picture,” according to the Senator.
NTIA recognizes these problems, noting that it “does not warrant the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of this information and expressly disclaims any liability for any errors or omissions.”
The maps are critical to agencies that distribute funds to expand broadband access, because they help identify which areas need the most help. “NTIA’s lack of accurate data threatens the effectiveness of these programs, as well as other broadband programs Congress is currently contemplating as part of an infrastructure bill,” Wicker wrote in the letter to Remaly.
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