FCC Broadband Data Collection Proposals Get Many Change Suggestions
The FCC got suggestions of changes to its broadband mapping and data collection rulemaking approved in July (see 2007160062), in docket 19-195 comments posted Wednesday. USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association said the FCC shouldn't require providers to supply testing…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
or other latency verification and it should exclude non-mass market business-only services. They said that verification can't happen until the fabric is created and that geocoordinates should become the standard format when evaluating outside data. They said the FCC should end broadband deployment data collection that's part of its Form 477. Connected Nation said the FCC should either collect speed information below 25/3 Mbps in three speed tiers or the baseline should be reporting at 3 Mbps/768 kbps with two speed tiers, and should collect round-trip latency information, defining the points on the network between which latency is measured. The Competitive Carriers Association said a standard way of reporting signal strength has benefits, but mobile operators look at a wide variety of variables that influence a link budget. CCA said the agency should provide guidance on in-vehicle penetration on a per-frequency basis and make sure verification procedures aren't a sizable burden. AT&T said providers shouldn't have to submit “business-only” broadband service availability data, but all carriers should have to identify the latency capability of fixed broadband service. It backed requiring service technologies to certify to the same latency threshold but said there's a need to differentiate among technologies with higher latency standards. The Broadband Data Act doesn't require changing the broadband data the commission collects from satellite providers because what the agency gets now is accurate, nor is latency information needed, Hughes said. If the FCC decides it wants additional latency information, all providers should report whether their service offerings fall above or below a certain threshold, Hughes said. Incompas said when the FCC refers to its facilities-based definition for broadband providers that must file polygons, it should use a different definition of facilities-based provider, or it will end up with results overstating availability. Next Century Cities urged collecting additional location-specific speed and pricing data. WTA said the approach to defining locations should differ for broadband mapping and Connect America Fund buildout purposes. CTIA's petition for reconsideration said the FCC should look again at its disparate treatment of link budget information of mobile and fixed wireless providers, and at its requiring modeling of in-vehicle usage coverage in addition to outdoor stationary coverage for each mobile wireless technology.