Broadband Mapping Partners Target July For Proof of Concept

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief UPDATE The industry-led effort to better map where broadband is available and where it doesn’t exist, is making progress. In a webinar Thursday, USTelecom VP Policy & Advocacy Mike Saperstein said the biggest problem with the current Form 477 data the FCC is using, is it was not designed for the targeted broadband mapping that’s needed. “If one location in census block is served, the entire location is considered served. If we map where broadband is, we don’t know where broadband isn’t.”

More accurate location data means, “better estimates of cost, time to deploy and tracking of progress,” Saperstein said.

Jim Stegeman, President/CEO, CostQuest Associates, said USTelecom, The Broadband Association, and its partners launched the initiative because there is no comprehensive, public, single source of broadband location data. Better data means regulators can better target funds in current and future programs like the RUS/USDA Infrastructure program and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and prevent overbuilding.

“We want to remove the guesswork by mapping every American household and business that may need to be online,” explained Stegeman. Continue Reading