Today the FCC released its 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, which found, among other things, that 18% more Americans have access to broadband than in the previous year, and that under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, broadband is being deployed to all Americans “on a reasonable and timely basis.”  

The following statement should be attributed to Gigi Sohn:

The FCC’s 2019 Broadband Deployment Report is hopelessly flawed and cannot be the basis for future policymaking. Nor does it validate Chairman Pai’s unsubstantiated claims that his policies have helped to close the digital divide.

There is bipartisan and near universal agreement that the FCC’s method for determining how many Americans have broadband vastly overstates broadband deployment and access. That method allows a broadband provider to claim that any area where it could provide service is one where it does provide service. And if one person in a census block has access to broadband, then everyone in that census block has access to broadband. 

The FCC should complete its long-pending proceeding to change the methodology by which carriers measure broadband access. First, it should require that broadband providers report only on those Americans they actually serve, rather than taking credit for serving those places they could serve. Second, the FCC should require providers to measure access on an address level. Since providers know which homes they serve, such measurement shouldn’t be complicated. Third, it should require providers to list non-introductory prices on their Form 477. Finally, the FCC should work to validate industry’s numbers through other methods like crowdsourcing and measurement from other sources. Only then will the FCC and other agencies have the information they need to engage in smart and effective policymaking necessary to ensure that all Americans are connected. 

Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and the Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate. She was Counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013-December 2016.  Gigi can be reached for comment at the above email address or at 202-253-0876.  More on Gigi can be found at gigibsohn.comConversation opened. 4 messages. 4 messages unread.