Data & Mapping

Can Vermont Turn Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Into High-Speed Internet for All?

The Vermont Community Broadband Board announced that the state will receive $229 million in federal funding from a White House initiative to expand high-speed broadband access. That figure is some $50 million more than state officials had anticipated — good news for the effort to wire up rural Vermont. In the lead-up to the announcement, officials worried that Vermont would get too small a piece of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program pie.

FCC Accepting Challenges to June 2023 Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric

The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force announced that entities can begin submitting bulk challenges to the latest, June 2023 version of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric. Bulk Fabric challenges submitted in advance of September 8, 2023, are most likely to be reviewed and adjudicated in time to be accounted for in the next iteration of the Fabric (December 2023).

Latest Broadband Data Collection Window

The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force announced that the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data as of June 30, 2023, opened on Monday, July 3, 2023. Facilities-based broadband service providers may begin to file in the BDC system data that reflects where they made mass-market broadband internet access service available as of June 30, 2023. Such entities, as well as providers of fixed voice services, must also submit the subscription data as of June 30, 2023 required under Form 477 in the BDC system.

State broadband officials call grant awards ‘wonderful,’ if less than expected

A day after the Biden administration announced how it will distribute its nearly $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Accessibility, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program, a group of state broadband officials touted the hundreds of millions of dollars they’re set to oversee, but with a note of curiosity as to why their awards weren’t greater. While this infusion of cash is undoubtedly cause for celebration, some

States' BEAD excitement tempered by execution, mapping worries

Now that Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program allocations have been announced, each state has 180 days to submit initial proposals describing how they plan to run their grant programs. Initial proposals can be submitted beginning July 1, 2023. Once the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approves a state’s initial proposal, that state will be able to request access to 20% of its BEAD allotment. But as states pull together plans for the NTIA, there is still apprehension surrounding the extensive broadband buildouts needed across the country.

Sponsor: 

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Date: 
Wed, 07/19/2023 - 13:00

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Senior Fellow John Horrigan and Elena Saltzman, Director of Campaigns, Civic Nation, will participate in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on the Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool and how to best focus ACP outreach and enrollment efforts in your community.



Wisconsin PSC Asks Wisconsin Households to Share Internet Experience to Improve Broadband Access and Affordability

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is calling on Wisconsin households to share their internet experience to help direct recently announced broadband funding.

Biden's $42 Billion Broadband Boondoggle

President Joe Biden has rolled out his Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) plan, which will be subsidized by $42 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That is an obscene amount of money to invest in technology that will be obsolete by the time it's built.

Utah's Long-Lived Broadband Map is a Big Asset

At a time when state and federal governments are funding numerous broadband deployment projects, Utah’s long-lived broadband map has been a big asset. Utah was more successful than any other state in challenging the locations database for the Federal Communications Commission's broadband map, explained Rebecca Dilg, Director of the Utah Broadband Center. The state is well positioned to determine eligible locations for the upcoming Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Dilg noted. Utah was one of multiple states that used funding from the 

[Update] Adding Unserved Locations with the Latest FCC Broadband Map Data

I finished updating the number of Served, Underserved, and Unserved based on the National Broadband map with updates and corrections as of June 15, 2023. Those numbers are available in this tab of the spreadsheet.

Congratulations to all the states, NTIA, and FCC on the allocation of broadband funds

I get asked a lot what I think of the Federal Communication Commission's Broadband Map and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) allocation of the $42.5 billion in broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Here’s what I think: this has been a fair process and a fair outcome. As far as I’m aware, no state has cause to be very upset. I highly doubt we’ll see lawsuits and angry senators yelling at Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration officials.

Will Your State Gain or Lose State BEAD Funds Based on FCC Map Update?

Twenty-seven states are expected to see larger allocations in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program based on the updated Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map in comparison with earlier estimates based on older data, according to a new analysis conducted by researchers at Cartesian for provider association ACA Connects. The other 23 states will see less funding, according to the updated estimates.

BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability - Version 3.0

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s (IIJA) $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program holds out tremendous opportunity to close the broadband availability gap.

Accelerate the US high-capacity transmission build-out with voluntary, strategic co-location

Attempts to pass comprehensive transmission siting reform failed in the recent congressional debt ceiling negotiations. It may be time to explore a different approach to accelerating transmission build-out: encouraging voluntary efforts by developers and stakeholders to create stakeholder-driven transmission corridors.

RDOF areas are already 30% Served by broadband. That's a good thing.

At the time the Federal Communications Commission Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program winners were announced, $9.23 billion was committed over 10-years to cover over 5 million Unserved locations.

FCC Explores Broadband Connectivity Role in Maternal Health Outcomes

The Federal Communications Commission announced an important update to its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform to incorporate maternal health data, enabling policymakers, public health experts, clinicians, researchers, innovators, and other public and private stakeholders to better explore the intersection of broadband and maternal health.

The US is covered in cable broadband

The US is a country is covered in cable broadband. More than 86% of the country has access to at least one cable or fiber broadband service according to Federal Communications Commission maps. Only 5% of locations among the 50 states and DC have access to three or more cable or fiber (I’ll call them wired) internet service providers (ISP). Thirty-two percent of locations have access to two wired offerings. And 49% have access to only one wired offering. Importantly, 13.5% of locations have access to zero wired offerings.

Reactions to the FCC's Investigation Into Broadband Data Caps

“Internet access is no longer nice-to-have, but need-to-have for everyone, everywhere. As we emerge from the pandemic, there are many lessons to learn about what worked and what didn’t work, especially around what it takes to keep us all connected,” said Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “When we need access to the internet, we aren’t thinking about how much data it takes to complete a task, we just know it needs to get done. It’s time the FCC take a fresh look at how data caps impact consumers and competition.”

Iowa's high cost locations might not count in the high-cost allocation of funding

How the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will allocate the 10% of the BEAD funding ($4.25 billion) set aside for high-cost locations has to be an estimate because the NTIA hasn’t shared guidance on how it plans to do that calculation. On a closer reading of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), I want to offer a possible — even likely — scenario where certain states get almost no funding in the high-cost allocation because their Unserved locations are dispersed and not concentrated.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Announces Upcoming Changes to Texas Broadband Development Program

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R-TX) applauded the signing of crucial legislation giving his office greater flexibility and resources as he works to expand access to reliable high-speed internet throughout Texas.

Our Fixation on 25/3 Mbps

Recently Mike Conlow discussed how cellular companies are reporting large numbers of passings on the Federal Communications Commission's broadband maps as having the capability to receive exactly 25/3 Mbps. That isn’t a very fast broadband speed, so why does this make any difference? It turns out that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is using the number of locations with speeds under 25/3 Mbps to allocate the $42.5 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant dollars between states. The problem is that, in many cases, the claimed speeds are not

Data: Areas Unserved and Underserved by Broadband in Texas

An analysis of data from the latest version of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map, which the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will use to allocate $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding later in June 2023, reveals some interesting trends that affect rural customers. The data shows that Texas has 777,115 “unserved” Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs).  Texas has 364,991 BSLs that are considered “underserved,” meaning that they are able to receive broadband service above 25/3 Mbps but below 100/2

Texas will spend billions to connect the state with broadband. But is it clear which neighborhoods need help?