FCC Seeks Comment on Interagency Broadband Coordination Agreement

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on the interagency agreement between the Federal Communications Commission, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) entered into pursuant to the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act of 2020 (BICA). Comments will inform the FCC’s preparation of a report to Congress on the effectiveness and possible improvements to the agreement. Under the BICA, within 180 days of the law's passage, the agencies were required to enter into an agreement requiring the agencies to coordinate for the distribution of funds for broadband deployment under the FCC’s Universal Service Fund High Cost programs, programs administered by the Rural Utilities Service of the USDA, and programs administered or coordinated through NTIA. The BICA also required that the agreement require the agencies to share information about existing or planned projects funded, or to receive funding, under their programs and to consider basing distribution of broadband funding under the programs on “standardized data regarding broadband coverage.” Finally, the BICA required that the agreement be updated periodically and that the FCC seek public comment on:

• the effectiveness of the interagency agreement in facilitating efficient use of funds for broadband deployment;
• the availability of Tribal, State, and local data regarding broadband deployment and the inclusion of that data in interagency coordination; and
• any modifications to the agreement that would improve the interagency coordination.

Comments are due August 1; reply comments are due August 16 (because, you know, what else are you doing during the summer?). WC Docket No. 22-251