[1st-mile-nm] FCC's Data Overstate Access on Tribal Lands
Richard Lowenberg
rl at 1st-mile.org
Mon Sep 10 10:45:24 PDT 2018
From the Benton list:
FCC's Data Overstate Access on Tribal Lands
Mark Goldstein | Research | Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office was asked to review the Federal
Communications Commission's efforts to collect broadband data for tribal
lands. This report examines the extent to which: (1) FCC's approach to
collecting broadband data accurately captures broadband access on tribal
lands and (2) FCC obtains tribal input on the data.
The FCC collects data on broadband availability; these data capture
where providers may have broadband infrastructure. However, FCC
considers broadband to be “available” for an entire census block if the
provider could serve at least one location in the census block. This
leads to overstatements of service for specific locations like tribal
lands. FCC, tribal stakeholders, and providers have noted that this
approach leads to overstatements of broadband availability. Because FCC
uses these data to measure broadband access, it also overstates
broadband access—the ability to obtain service—on tribal lands.
Additionally, FCC does not collect information on several factors—such
as affordability, quality, and denials of service—that FCC and tribal
stakeholders stated can affect the extent to which Americans living on
tribal lands can access broadband services. FCC provides broadband
funding for unserved areas based on its broadband data. Overstatements
of access lim it FCC’s and tribal stakeholders’ abilities to target
broadband funding to such areas.
GAO is making three recommendations to FCC, to which the agency agreed:
The Chairman of the FCC should develop and implement methods--such as a
targeted data collection--for collecting and reporting accurate and
complete data on broadband access specific to tribal lands.
The Chairman of the FCC should develop a formal process to obtain tribal
input on the accuracy of provider-submitted broadband data that includes
outreach and technical assistance to help tribes participate in the
process.
The Chairman of the FCC should obtain feedback from tribal stakeholders
and providers on the effectiveness of FCC's 2012 statement to providers
on how to fulfill their tribal engagement requirements to determine
whether FCC needs to clarify the agency's tribal engagement statement.
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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute 505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org www.1st-mile.org
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