On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel were on Capitol Hill to testify on the agency's FY 2021 funding request to Congress.  Both were faced with tough questions regarding the $16 billion in broadband subsidies to be distributed through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the flawed mapping being used to determine where they are distributed.  

Commissioner Rosenworcel responded to the criticism that radically improved maps could be on the way in "between three and six months” and that afterwards the agency would "be completely done" fixing them. 

The White House suggested that President Trump is ready to sign the Broadband DATA Act (S.1822) which passed the Senate by unanimous consent on Tuesday after agreeing to House amendments. This bill passed the Senate initially in December 2019 and the House last week. It includes initiatives from two bipartisan House efforts to improve broadband mapping and the accuracy of data collected, including:

 

  • H.R. 4229, the “Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act” or the “Broadband DATA Act,” introduced by Energy and Commerce Representative Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Representative Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa): This legislation requires the FCC to issue new rules to require the collection and dissemination of granular broadband availability data and to establish a process to verify the accuracy of such data, and more.
  • H.R. 4227, the “Mapping Accuracy Promotion Services Act” or the “MAPS Act,” introduced by Energy and Commerce Representative Billy Long (R-Missouri) and Representative A. Donald McEachin (D-Virginia), this legislation specifies that it is unlawful for a person to willfully, knowingly, or recklessly submit inaccurate broadband service data.