As the National Telecommunications and Information Administration works with the FCC to update the nation’s broadband coverage map, Senators want to know — does NTIA have what it needs to get the job done? The map is key to determining which telecom providers qualify for various federal mechanisms like the Universal Service Program to help cover costs of broadband deployment — especially in rural areas.
During an NTIA oversight hearing late Wednesday afternoon, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said simply: “Everyone can agree the mapping can be improved.” Indeed, lawmakers, telecoms, and others have complained the current map is inaccurate. That’s why the FCC opened a procedure to challenge the map for the Mobility Fund II process.
NTIA manages federally-held spectrum and recommends policies to the administration to promote efficient spectrum use. Like the FCC, NTIA is reviewing how to allocate it more efficiently. “As we clear and re-pack, we need to do more with less,” said David Redl, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at NTIA. In particular, the IT system NTIA uses to manage spectrum frequency assignments is now 10 years old and “showing its age. We continue to try to consolidate systems and rely on other agencies” that have better tools, he said, such as the Department of Defense.
Redl told lawmakers, NTIA is working with other agencies to prepare two reports to meet congressional obligations. One takes a look at how to better incentivize government agencies to use spectrum more efficiently and the other contemplates making federal spectrum available for commercial use, potentially through leases.
Asked whether NTIA has the resources it needs, Redl said: “Like all federal agencies, we’re doing more with the resources we have.” On spectrum bands it can’t clear, “lease authority is one potential tool that can be brought to bear on these challenges.”
NTIA and the FCC are responsible for updating the broadband map. NTIA is making sure it can use the FCC’s Form 477 data and trying to figure out what other datasets, either from other government agencies or the private sector, to use, Redl said. “We’re trying to make updating the map as frictionless as possible.”
Noting the federal government allocated $7.5 million to the task of updating the map, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) pressed Redl on whether that’s enough. “We are just beside ourselves. We need your leadership, not just on responsible spending. Your job is to tell the truth about technology and be clear with the FCC that their map does not reflect reality.”
“We have challenges for fixed service, and for mobile service,” replied Redl. Noting that correcting the fixed service portion of the map is easier, that’s what NTIA would focus on first. “Mobile is a challenge, deciding what constitutes service and what doesn’t.”
by Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
June 15, 2018
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