Source: FCC
The new National Broadband Map
The FCC opened its second broadband data collection window this week. This is the time for broadband service providers to submit data detailing where they made mass-market broadband internet access service available as of December 31, 2022. Entities that choose to submit verified availability data in this filing window, such as authenticated state, local, and Tribal governmental entities who are primarily responsible for mapping or tracking broadband coverage in their jurisdictions, must also submit their availability data as of December 31.
The Broadband Data Collection is meant to pinpoint areas that don’t have broadband. That will direct where federal subsidy grants for broadband infrastructure deployment go. The bulk of that money, $42.5 billion, will come from NTIA’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program later this year.
The FCC released an initial version of its broadband availability maps last fall. The point is to continually update the maps and that’s why the agency invited the public to comment on errors, Inside Towers reported.
The Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (a dataset) is the foundation on which fixed broadband availability data is overlaid. The Commission says the fabric has been updated. The new version contains data from additional sources and other improvements conducted by the FCC and its contractor, CostQuest. It also contains the results of bulk fabric challenges submitted by state and local governments and broadband providers.
Filers must submit their data to http://bdc.fcc.gov by March 1 of this year. Several groups have asked the agency to extend that deadline.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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