The National Broadband Mapping Coalition—the nation’s only neutral coalition dedicated to openness, transparency, and verifiability in broadband coverage data—held its latest monthly call on October 25, 2023. As with previous recent calls, the discussion centered on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and the challenge process for BEAD fund eligibility.
The call opened with a presentation by Alexis Schrubbe, Director of the Internet Equity Initiative at the University of Chicago Data Science Institute, who addressed the barriers and challenges to network performance measurements. This is critical to the BEAD challenge process as eligibility depends on whether a particular location is deemed to be unserved or underserved.
Dr. Schrubbe shared several key observations from her studies. While she noted a correlation between historically disadvantaged neighborhoods with underserved digital areas, more affluent neighborhoods have been better at opting in to the speed tests used to measure the level of broadband service. She closed with a call to action for this community of experts, recognizing that the need for help desks, FAQs, websites, and similar resources is more than what one organization alone can provide to ensure equitable distribution of BEAD funding.
Dustin Loup, who leads the National Broadband Mapping Coalition program on behalf of the Marconi Society, followed Dr. Schrubbe’s presentation with an overview of the BEAD challenge process. In response to Dr. Schrubbe’s call to action, Dustin suggested the Coalition could provide a repository for FAQs and other relevant information. He also put out his own call for volunteers to assist with data gathering.
Others on the call supported these ideas, recognizing the need for information sharing and the importance of asking questions to uncover it. They also offered additional suggestions, such as setting up a wiki or a google group to help organize the information and make it accessible.
In the words of one of the participants, extending broadband access to all is “the biggest thing since rural electrification,” undertaken in 1930s as part of the New Deal. The efforts will go on, as will the National Broadband Mapping Coalition’s monthly calls. Stay tuned!
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