8th Floor Gets Heavy Broadband Mapping Lobbying Traffic
In the days before the sunshine period for August's FCC meeting, the eighth floor had a parade of parties urging tweaks or changes to the broadband mapping draft order on this coming Thursday's agenda. That's according to docket 19-195 postings.
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The FCC's proposed definition of where broadband is actually available under its digital opportunity data collection (DODC) process will give a clearer picture for distributing USF, Microsoft said Friday. It recapped a presentation to aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel and to Wireline Bureau staff. The company suggested eliminating the "extraordinary commitment of resources" language from the definition so as to minimize subjective analysis and set a clearer standard. It suggested amending Form 477 to reflect the same language and supports using crowdsourced data.
Make clear that crowdsourced reports won't be treated exactly the same as general consumer complaints, with a response to each and every report being necessary, NTCA asked aides to Pai, O'Rielly and Rosenworcel. It said the FCC should review crowdsourced information and adjust maps or require provider responses only when the material trends in vetted information show a systemic problem with a provider's reporting in a particular area. It wants to make clear crowdsourcing will complement, not substitute, a "robust and meaningful evidentiary challenge process" followed when considering new awards or denial. The association said fixed voice service availability should be reported with the same granularity as broadband availability.
Connected Nation met with Pai and O'Rielly aides and one to Commissioner Brendan Carr and urged adopting a route for allow for service providers to request reporting assistance, particularly small service providers that may lack internal GIS expertise. It suggested creation of a broadband serviceable location fabric common dataset of locations nationwide on which the broadband service availability polygons can be overlaid. It sought defined windows for receiving crowdsourced feedback, analyzing and validating it.
ITTA, also recapping meetings with Pai, O'Rielly, Rosenworcel and Starks aides, said the proposed data-collection approach -- which defers adoption of a broadband-serviceable location tool -- doesn't account for the amount of time needed to develop the new data collection. The telco group said the broadband serviceable location fabric (BSLF) that it and other Broadband Mapping Collation members are pushing could be done within 15 months, instead of several years as the draft says. It said the draft should include a tentative conclusion that BSLF creation should proceed in parallel with development of the platform and processes for submitting polygon-based reports.
In meetings with Pai and Carr aides, Incompas said the requirement facilities-based broadband providers submit polygons shouldn't include providers that buy or lease last-mile facilities from others. USTelecom, in a call with a Pai aide, urged more clarity on timing of the portal development and due date for shapefiles submissions and on the fact the bureaus will be dictating to Universal Service Administrative Co. on DODC implementation. America's Communications Association, in meeting with aides to Pai and the regular commissioners, urged tweaks including using GIS-compatible KMZ file format, the small provider threshold for data collection be increased to 1,500 subscribers, and consider other ways to help smaller providers comply.