FCC May Overstate Broadband Penetration, GAO Says
FCC data on broadband penetration “may not provide a highly accurate depiction of deployment,” because the Commission collects data based on “where subscribers are served, not where providers have deployed broadband infrastructure,” according to a report issued to the congressional Commerce committees’ leaders Fri. by the GAO. The report ultimately found that “a key difficulty for analyzing and targeting any federal aid for broadband is a lack of reliable data on the deployment of networks.”
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The GAO report married FCC’s deployment data with information collected by Knowledge Networks. JayEtta Hecker, GAO dir.-physical infrastructure issues, said while the Commission’s 477 report results included only zip code level information, Knowledge Networks’ report had zip code plus-4 data. That means the FCC’s study, which suggested 99% deployment in 95% of counties, could list an entire county as served if only one small business provider operates there, she said. The Knowledge Networks report, though narrower in scope, was far more fine-grained, looking at actual block-to- block deployments. The FCC “overstates the availability of broadband,” by as much as 8% of households, Hecker said, which would bring the proportion of Americans with no broadband option up to about 9%. “Congress needs better data” than that to make well informed funding decisions, she said.
The report admitted “it is difficult to assess the extent of gaps in the availability of broadband in local markets.” It estimated that about 41% of households didn’t subscribe to broadband service in 2005, while 28% -- 30 million -- subscribe, with the remainder on dial-up. GAO said “roughly an equal share [subscribe to] cable modem and digital subscriber line (DSL) service,” confirming a victory for DSL, which until last year had trailed significantly.
GAO said stakeholders proposed several solutions to increasing rural penetration: Restructuring of the Rural Utilities Service’s broadband loan program; spectrum modification; upgrades and increases in satellite broadband technology to address cost issues with land-based infrastructure. Most of all, GAO said, more reliable data on deployment and uptake are necessary for Congress to focus its efforts, the report said.
GAO provided a draft of the report to the FCC, the Dept. of Agriculture and the Dept. of Commerce, it said. Agriculture had no response, while the FCC and Commerce provided technical comments, it reported. Based on those comments, GAO suggested that the FCC undergo development for improving its information-collecting processes with respect to cost constraints on the small carriers involved. The report said the FCC should “provide that information to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Energy and Commerce Committee in order to help them determine what actions, if any, are necessary going forward.”