Legislation To Improve FCC Data Collection

There are changes afoot to address the notoriously insufficient data on broadband deployment in this country. Congressman Edward J. Markey’s (D-MA) bill, the Broadband Census of America Act, passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee on October 30^th. The legislation will provide better, more comprehensive data on broadband deployment. “…Current data collection methods used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are highly flawed,” Markey said. The bill would also implement a searchable database that would allow people to locate broadband services available in their community.

The bill marks a significant advancement for proponents of broadband access as many advocates lament the poor statistics courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission. A number of reports on the subject of broadband deployment have raised concern for the deficiencies of the FCC’s data and collection process. From the Brookings Institution, The Effects of Broadband Deployment on Output and Employment: A Cross-sectional Analysis of U.S. Data by Robert W. Crandall, William Lehr, and Robert E. Litan on behalf of Verizon Communications, noting the broadness of the FCC’s definition of broadband, which includes speeds as low as 200 Kbps–to Kenneth Flamm and Anindya Chaudhuri, authors of An Analysis of the Determinants of Broadband Access, who explain why this classification is problematic since it does not account for the great variations in speed within different broadband technologies. Derek Turner’s 2006 report Broadband Reality Check II further elaborates that this low standard for “high-speed” (200 Kbps) connections is hardly capable of transmitting low-quality streaming video, “standards that do not meet the congressional mandate contained in the 1996 [Telecommunications] Act.”

It’s not just the FCC’s definition of broadband that’s inadequate, though. Flamm and Chaudhuri discuss problems with the FCC’s actual data and representation, which suffered from being under-counted. The results represented some broadband subscribers as living in counties where that service was not officially available. Derek Turner even urged government policy to “require the FCC to improve its broadband data collection and analysis.”

This new bill addresses just those issues, directing the FCC to decide whether the current standard for broadband should be revised. It would also require the FCC to revise its broadband reporting form and its broadband reporting obligations so that providers report the actual numbers of broadband connections within a census tract, 9-digit postal zip code, or 5-digit postal zip code. This would replace the current system that equates a single broadband subscriber in a zip code with the whole community having broadband access. The bill would also make the FCC’s inquiries into the deployment of advanced telecommunications services on an annual basis instead of periodically.

There is also an allocation of a 5-year, $40 million per year fund that would provide matching grants to state non-profit, public-private partnerships in support of efforts to more accurately identify barriers to broadband adoption throughout the state. It is the first proposed media reform measure that includes a specific funding allocation since Bush came into office.

Separate from FCC based directives, the bill would also have the Census Bureau include a question in its American Community Survey to assess levels of residential computer use and determine levels of dial-up versus broadband Internet subscribership. This data would be beneficial to broadband deployment initiatives to determine the ways in which certain communities are or are not able to use the Internet. There is also a directive for the Government Accountability Office to develop broadband measurements that may be used to provide consumers with broadband connection cost and capability information and improve the process of comparing the deployment and penetration of broadband in the United States with other countries. The bill addresses more than just individual access, including a measure for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to conduct a study evaluating the impact of broadband speed and price on small businesses, something that is imperative for addressing small business and community economic growth.

There are also other measures being taken to improve our national broadband data collection system. Right now a lawsuit wages in Washington D.C. between the FCC and the non-profit organization Center for Public Integrity. The latter organization is insisting the FCC release a more accurate map of broadband Internet deployment in the United States and to make it a publicly accessible database providing details of companies that offer broadband in every zip code. The FCC does release a semi-annual report on how many broadband providers operate in each zip code, but leaves them nameless. The opposition from the FCC maintains that the private records “contain commercially sensitive, competitive information and that release would cause harm to the entities that submitted the requested information.” Drew Clark, senior fellow at CPI insists that the availability of the information would greatly benefit those trying to improve broadband policy allowing them “to start making correlations with demographic data—income, education, and so forth.”

The improvement in data collection resultant from the bill, including the added question in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, as well as the efforts of CPI, would provide many programs that promote broadband deployment with an excellent supplement to their own statistical analysis and research. The funding provision would also significantly bolster organizations abilities to conduct this important research. For the Digital Expansion Initiative, the efforts will lower the barriers for the kind of research the program is conducting. Likewise, the DEI’s comprehensive research methods would build on the statistical foundation provided by these bills by addressing the uneven distribution of the Internet through community organizing, participant-led research, and media production.

The senate companion bill to the Broadband Census Bill, sponsored by Daniel Inouye (D-HI), has already passed the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in a unanimous vote on July 19. “It is among the first ever things we have been able to do that is not defense up to this point with GOP congress,” said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, an organization that has been doing media reform since 2003, “it has been all about blocking the bad stuff.” As Sen. Inouye said in a press statement, “The first step in an improved broadband policy is ensuring that we have better data on which to build our efforts.”