Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Broadband Mapping

On Aug 19 and 21, 2019, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai responded to various Members of Congress who expressed concerns about the FCC's inaccurate broadband mapping. Chairman Pai wrote that, "After a thorough review of the record and the painstaking work of our career staff, the Commission adopted a Report and Order at the FCC’s August Open Meeting that will result in more granular and more accurate broadband maps through the creation of the Digital Opportunity Data Collection. That means requiring broadband providers to report where they actually offer service below the census block level, having the Universal Service Administrative Company independently test the validity of that data, and incorporating public feedback to ensure up to date and accurate broadband deployment maps."

Other Members of Congress wrote to Chairman Pai about broadband mapping and 4G LTE in rural areas, urging the FCC to expand the Mobile Fund Phase II (MFII) project to include explicit funding for rural cellular deployment. Chairman Pai noted that the FCC structured MF-II to redirect funding from parts of the country that already had service to areas without any coverage at all. Regarding broadband mapping and MF-II, he wrote, "In 2018, I announced that the agency had launched an investigation into whether one or more major carriers violated the MF-II reverse auction’s mapping rules by submitting incorrect coverage maps—an investigation prompted in part by a preliminary review of the information submitted to the MF-II challenge process. The Commission suspended the program while conducting this investigation. I expect that Commission staff will soon conclude this investigation, after which the Commission will consider the next appropriate steps."