UPDATE Some groups representing broadband providers criticized the administration’s new broadband coverage maps. Inside Towers reported the National Telecommunications and Information Administration debuted new interactive broadband maps last week.
NTIA said this is the first interactive, public map that shows broadband coverage gaps. It worked to develop the new “Indicators of Broadband Need” map by layering data from the FCC, Ookla, M-Lab, Microsoft, and the Census Bureau. The different data sets show both what providers say they offer and the speeds consumers report using, in addition to other information.
But critics say the new map doesn’t address the core issue. The interactive map doesn’t use any new data. So it doesn’t doesn’t solve policymakers’ years-long concerns about inadequate data, reported Politico. High Tech Forum’s Richard Bennett wrote in a blog post that the map “doesn’t add anything to the broadband discourse that we didn’t already know.”
He finds the value of the map “real but limited,” since the data used is already out of date. The map does shed light on low-income areas with limited broadband use, according to Bennett. But he asserts it leaves unanswered questions about how much money is needed to be spent on infrastructure, what speeds such spending should target and whether the providers should be public or private.
These questions matter because accurately capturing the scope of broadband availability and use is key to helping policymakers steer funding to help close the digital divide.
The FCC has been working to improve its own broadband coverage maps, however those may not be done until the end of the year or early next, Inside Towers reported. USTelecom supports the Commission’s effort, which is similar to a pilot initiative the trade group led that sought to identify every location in a given area whether broadband service is or is not available.
“We’re glad the NTIA is out with this version of a map, but it’s not a substitute for the FCC’s more accurate and granular approach which will identity every home and business in America and whether — or not — it has broadband,” USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said in a statement. “The administration itself acknowledged this map is not authoritative — instead suggesting it is meant to let users compare existing coverage estimates. So we should take that at face value.”
Industry critics also note that some of the speed and usage tests in the maps are unreliable indicators of what a customer receives at home because many other variables can shape the results. A White House official told Axios, “The map demonstrates, using a variety of data sources, that there is a deep need for federal investment to provide high-speed internet access to every American.”
Reader Interactions