8/25 FCC Ex Parte Meeting on Strengthening Mobile Broadband Mapping

New America's Open Technology Institute met with Federal Communications Commission (Commission) staff to discuss the Commission's efforts to improve its maps of mobile broadband availability across the country. OTI, who met with the staff alongside Public Knowledge (PK), argued that the Commission had to improve upon its prior maps that relied merely on self-reporting from internet service providers and only showcased the presence of a mobile signal. OTI and PK urged the Commission to consider not merely mapping where mobile providers meet the throughput threshold of 5 megabits per second download by 1 megabit per second upload speeds, but also showcasing what throughput speeds mobile carriers can actually offer in various parts of the U.S. OTI and PK urged the Commission to make the challenge process as consumer-friendly and burden-free as possible to ensure robust engagement and real-time fact-checking not just by competitive carriers, but actual mobile users and grassroots organizations as well. Further, OTI and PK urged the Commission to consider the effects of this mobile map on school district efforts to connect students at home through the Emergency Connectivity Fund, where entities seeking to self-provision connectivity solutions through the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, TV White Spaces spectrum, community Wi-Fi networks, and more must prove the lack of any carrier in their area. An introduction of the ex parte letter is available below:

On August 23, 2021, Michael Calabrese and Amir Nasr of New America’s Open Technology Institute (“OTI”) and Jenna Leventoff, Greg Guice, and Kathleen Burke of Public Knowledge (“PK”) met via video conference with the Broadband Data Task Force Chair, Jean Kiddoo, and Senior Counsel, Sean Spivey, as well as the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Telecommunications Access Policy Division Deputy Division Chief, Johnnay Schrieber, and Special Counsel, Katherine Dumouchel.

The parties discussed the Commission’s ongoing efforts to improve broadband mapping and the Public Notice seeking comment on a series of data collection, verification, and challenge processes associated with the Commission’s work to develop granular nationwide mobile LTE maps. OTI and PK urge the Commission to ensure the process to collect and to challenge data supplied by mobile providers is robust and as burden-free for consumers as possible. Accurate and granular mobile coverage maps are crucial to several ongoing connectivity efforts such as those being pursued by school districts for students lacking broadband access at home, an issue central to the Emergency Connectivity Fund.