Response Mostly Positive to FCC’s New National Broadband Maps

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

UPDATE As the FCC promised, it released an initial version of its updated broadband maps on November 18. The pre-production maps display specific location-level information about broadband services available throughout the country. Both the Commission and broadband associations call them “significantly improved” maps compared to the census block level data previously collected.  An accurate map is key as the NTIA prepares to disperse broadband deployment allocations to states by its goal of June 30. Congress mandated that NTIA use the FCC’s updated maps to distribute some $65 billion in broadband deployment grants to avoid over-building. Continue Reading