The FCC finally orders ISPs to say exactly where they offer broadband

The Federal Communications Commission voted today to gather more accurate data on which parts of the United States have broadband and which parts lack high-speed connectivity. From now on, ISPs at home will have to provide FCC with geospatial maps of where they provide services rather than simply reporting which census blocks they provide services in.

FCC's current broadband mapping system has severe limitations. The Form 477 Form Collection Program, which requires ISPs to report census coverage, allows an ISP to count an entire census block as served, though it can only serve one home in the block. There are millions of census blocks across the United States, and each usually contains between 600 and 3,000 people.

Perhaps even worse is that ISPs can count a census block as served in some cases where they do not provide any broadband in the block. That's because the FCC is asking ISPs to report where they can provide services "without an extraordinary commitment of resources." An ISP can thus count a census class earned if it is near the network facilities, but in practice ISPs have charged homeowners tens of thousands of dollars for line extensions.

The current mapping system is ripe for abuse and error, as stated by a brand new Internet provider called BarrierFree and falsely stated to serve 20% of the US population. The FCC is taking quite a lot of ISPs at its word, and Pai took credit for the benefits of broadband distribution without realizing that his data was inflated by this gigantic flaw. The FCC only corrected the error after the Free Press advocacy team discovered it.

For years, Internet service providers and broadband lobby groups have been trying to avoid providing more accurate information to the government, complaining that it would be too difficult. But even Republicans in Congress, who generally resist any effort to regulate ISPs, have complained about the inaccurate maps, increasing pressure for FCC chairman Ajit Pai and the industry to solve the problem.

When it became clear that Pai's FCC would do something, industry lobby groups made their own suggestions to improve the mapping system, which helped pave the way for today's vote. Although the new system should be a major improvement over the current one, Democrats criticized FCC Pai for not also demanding the collection of broadband pricing data.

Internet Service Providers Must Send Polygons

It is particularly timely to improve the mapping system because the FCC today also provided preliminary approval to a $ 20.4 billion $ 1[ads1]0-year fund to pay ISPs for broadband to undeserved lands. Without accurate maps, it is difficult to determine exactly where the money is going. The "new" $ 20.4 billion fund is really a continuation of the FCC's existing payment of universal services to ISPs, so previous payments were made with existing, less accurate data.

Pai's (full-text) survey order states that it "will collect geospatial broadband coverage maps from ISPs," and create a crowd-sourcing system to gather public input on the accuracy of ISP-submitted maps.

The FCC order states:

We require all fixed-line providers to submit broadband coverage polygons showing the areas where they actually have broadband-capable networks and make fixed broadband services available to end-user locations. The registrations must reflect the maximum download and upload speeds actually made available in each area, the technology used to provide the service, and a differentiation between residential, business only, or private broadband services. Permanent providers in the new collection must submit a broadband coverage polygon for each combination of download speed, upload speed and technology. Where fixed providers offer different maximum speeds to residential and corporate customers, even if they use the same network facilities, they must file separate polygons. Where the offered speed varies by location or distance from network facilities, fixed providers must submit separate polygons to reflect the different maximum offered speeds.

Internet service providers can still count homes that are not connected to their networks, but the FCC has tightened the criteria to do so. ISPs can only count an area served if the ISP "has a current broadband connection or it can provide such a connection within ten business days of a customer request and without extraordinary commitment of resources or construction costs in excess of an ordinary service activation fee."

The order continues:

The filter must be able to establish a connection within this timeframe to all end-user locations in the reported broadband coverage polygon. According to this standard, a fixed supplier must have fiber or cable in place near, if not connected, to the locations within the reported polygons. For example, we expect a home to be included only if the toolbar or wire to the right of the home is already wired and is just waiting for a release cable. A fixed wireless provider must already have installed enough base stations to meet and meet reasonably expected customer capacity requirements; The installation of an additional base station, for example, will constitute an extraordinary commitment to resources. In fact, fixed broadband services are not available for the purposes of the Digital Opportunity Data Collection in an area where the filter does not meet this standard.

The new requirements are limited to fixed broadband providers, those that offer non-mobile service in homes and businesses. The FCC did not impose new requirements on mobile providers because it has not finished investigating complaints that Verizon and T-Mobile lied about the extent of their 4G coverage. But the FCC is seeking public comment on how they can incorporate mobile coverage into the new mapping system.

The FCC is also seeking public comment on several ways to improve data collection and on the opportunity to sunbathe the Form 477 program after the new "Digital Opportunity Data Collection" mapping program is created. It will require an extra governmental process and voting. Currently, data collection of Form 477 will continue separately from the new form of data collection.

"To ensure the reliability of these new maps, we will incorporate feedback from the public as well as state, local and tribal administrations." Said Pai before today's vote. "We are also seeking comment on a framework to identify where Americans live and work with greater precision, which will work in conjunction with the data collection for broadband deployment we adopt today."

Deadlines for ISPs to submit maps have not yet been announced.

FCC Democrats criticize lack of price data

Pai's plan criticized Democratic FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. Rosenworcel said that Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which manages FCC's universal service programs, "has never done data collection of this magnitude."

"The decision to leave this enormous commitment to the administrator of universal service funds does not make sense," Rosenworcel said. "What is the logic behind salting the USAC with these tasks? … How will they [be held] be accountable to the public?"

Rosenworcel also told Pai not to collect data on the price of broadband. "If we want a truly accurate picture of broadband service across the country, we face problems by not even asking how price and reasonableness play a role," she said. "Here's the thing: it plays a big one."

The high price of broadband has probably led many Americans to abandon the service altogether or to purchase packages with broadband speeds. The FCC's latest figures suggest that 21.3 million Americans lack fixed broadband access with speeds of at least 25 Mbps and 3 Mbps up. But a Microsoft analysis found that 162.8 million Americans do not use the Internet at broadband speeds. Just because broadband is available to a resident does not mean that the resident can afford it.

Starks said the Pai plan "is just a push in the right direction," and asked if the FCC would ensure the accuracy of ISP submissions.

"Are we validating and verifying the data we collect? As we learned from BarrierFree, more needs to be done to veterinate and validate data aromas," said Starks. "For us to be confident in the results of our data analysis and the resulting decisions, we need to be sure of the accuracy and validity of the data we receive."

PAI plan receives praise from frequent critics

Continued FCC plan won praise from one of PAI's most powerful critics, Free Press. The group said that the FCC should also collect information on pricing over broadband, but found much to like in the FCC order.

"The new digital data collection opportunity process will address the most common complaint about mapping work from previous agencies: the potential for exaggerating distribution in certain rural areas," said Free Press Research Director Derek Turner today. "Free Press has long been calling for better FCC broadband distribution data, and we are cautiously optimistic that today's reforms will improve accuracy, while maintaining public access to this critical information."

Turner was previously concerned that FCC's new system would make it more difficult for outside researchers like him to analyze ISP submissions. But he said his concerns were largely addressed in the plan approved by the FCC today.

"While this change may provide better data on rural distribution, the new plan wisely recognizes the need to show this improvement before the agency scraps the previous reporting system," Turner said. "The plan also retains the current census reporting methodology at the block level and full public disclosure of this information. Maintaining the existing methodology will ensure that researchers and advocates can continue to use FCC's distribution data in connection with census demographic information. It allows us and other researchers monitors distribution in low-income communities over time and tracks other important changes. "