Panelists Say Biden Administration Can Add Real Value Through Better Coordination on Broadband Mapping

March 9, 2021 – Different departments in the federal government have different broadband maps, which has caused a lack of unity on a response to the United States’ rural broadband problem, experts said last month.

Gigi Sohn, a distinguished fellow at Georgetown Law, said at the Michelson 20MM Build Back Better conference on February 25 that she is upset about how different government agencies lack uniformity in broadband mapping.

The Federal Communications Commission’s broadband map map is different than the map from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s map. That, in turn, is different from the Commerce Department’s map. This is unacceptable, she said.

Poor mapping data causes duplicative decisions or can even leave deserving communities entirely out of the picture undeservingly, panelists at the conference said.

From the governor’s office to state legislators, everyone needs to be singing the same song in unison, said Sohn. Everyone that plays a role and should play a role in broadband access efforts needs to be working from the same information, she added.

Sohn, as well as others on the panel, expressed frustration that broadband at the federal level has been harmed by partisanship.

Kathryn de Wit, who leads Pew’s Broadband Research Initiative, said the Biden administration can add real value by finding how best to facilitate better coordination between the local, state, and the federal government.

States and federal leaders need to sit down at the table together and talk, she said.