New Legislation Will Fix Broadband Maps, Bring Transparency to Broadband Pricing for Consumers

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) introduced The Broadband Transparency and Accountability Act of 2019 to reform how broadband companies report, and the federal government verifies and shares, data on affordable internet access across the country.

"Every home, hospital, school, and farm without broadband is a failure of our ambition to build a 21st century economy for everyone," said Bennet. "For years, the FCC's flawed data collection has kept us from knowing who in America has broadband and who does not--especially in rural areas. Our bill strengthens broadband data so that we can better target federal investments to close the digital divide."

"Federal grant and loan programs are designed to bring broadband to underserved areas--but that's not possible without accurate maps, drawn from good data," said Finkenauer. "Access to broadband is vital to our small businesses and farmers, who depend on it to identify new customers, sell their products, and create jobs in their communities. I'll keep ensuring that Iowans' voices are heard in Congress on this important issue."

Since 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has required Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to report, via Form 477, the census blocks in which they offer internet service. This data helps determine which areas receive federal support to close the "digital divide." However, the current reporting process is deeply flawed. For example, if ISPs report a single home in a census block as served, then the entire block is considered served. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that broadband data reported to the FCC by ISPs "does not accurately or completely capture broadband access." This is especially true in rural areas. Since federal dollars cannot be deployed to areas already being served--a policy intended to prevent "overbuilding"--this inaccurate data restricts competition and inflates prices in many rural areas across the country. Additionally, data reported through Form 477 is not available to the public in a readily accessible format, and no formal process exists to verify or challenge its accuracy.

The Broadband Transparency and Accountability Act addresses these problems by requiring ISPs to report granular, address-level data for attributes including speed, affordability, latency, and denials of service. The bill also strengthens accountability by establishing robust verification and challenge processes for the data reported. Finally, the bill strengthens transparency by requiring the FCC to create an interactive national map of available broadband service, publicly report on the number of broadband subscribers, and share underlying data collected through the Form 477 process with other stakeholders while safeguarding for privacy.

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