Walden, Latta praise House passage of Broadband DATA Act

U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Bob Latta (R-OH) this week praised U.S. House passage of the bipartisan Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act, which would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change the way broadband data is collected, verified and reported.

“This bipartisan bill will help us assess the availability of internet across our country and take the necessary steps to improve connectivity for all Americans, regardless of their zip code,” said Reps. Walden and Latta in a joint statement. “Importantly, this bill will also make sure we do not repeat past mistakes by better directing our limited resources to the communities who need them most.”

Rep. Walden is ranking member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC, while Rep. Latta is ranking member of the E&C Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Also known as the Broadband DATA Act, S. 1822 received U.S. Senate approval in December 2019 and now moves closer to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

“While our way of life is becoming more reliant on technologies, 19 million Americans — including one-fourth of people in rural areas — still do not have access to broadband services,” the congressmen said. “We cannot expand broadband to communities who lack adequate access without understanding exactly where those communities are, which is why this effort is so important.”

If enacted, S. 1882 specifically would direct the FCC to collect and disseminate granular broadband service availability data (broadband maps) from wired, fixed-wireless, satellite, and mobile broadband providers, according to the congressional record bill summary.

To do this, the FCC would be required to establish the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, a dataset of geocoded information for all broadband service locations, atop which broadband maps are overlaid, as the vehicle for reporting broadband service availability data, the summary says.

Additionally, the FCC would be required to create a challenge process to enable the submission of independent data challenging the accuracy of FCC broadband maps, among other provisions.