Intro: The FCC was mandated by the Broadband Data Act of 2020 to create new federal broadband maps. The new maps will inform how much funding each state gets from the $42.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. . . the chairwoman seemed to acknowledge tension about the mapping process and outcome but reiterated that the result will be an improvement on existing data.
"Looking ahead, there's one more important thing to note about the new maps. When the first draft is released, it will provide a far more accurate picture of broadband availability in the United States than our old maps ever did..."
Related posts:
- Rural ISPs struggling to meet FCC mapping deadline
- 'Completely backwards.' Skeptics fret over federal broadband map
- CostQuest counts 23-25M homes, businesses unserved or underserved by broadband
- FCC sets September 1 deadline for broadband data collection
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First FCC broadband map to come in November, says Rosenworcel | Light Reading
Following 18 months of work and a data collection process that has had its share of critics, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed today that its first data collection window for the broadband serviceable location fabric has closed. The agency also said it is targeting November 2022 for a public release of a first draft of the new map.
✓ "For the first time ever, we have collected extensive location-by-location data on precisely where broadband services are available, and now we are ready to get to work and start developing new and improved broadband maps," wrote Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a note on Friday afternoon.
✓ In addition to announcing the planned time frame for the release, Rosenworcel also said a challenge process would open up on September 12 for state and local governments and broadband providers to submit bulk challenges to the initial fabric data.
✓✓ a public notice, the FCC set some parameters for that process, writing: "We remind governments, service providers, and other entities and organizations planning to submit challenges that the Fabric is intended to identify BSLs as defined by the Commission, which will not necessarily include all structures at a particular location or parcel." The FCC will host a webinar on September 7, at 2 p.m. ET, "to assist state, local, and Tribal governments, service providers, and other entities who intend to submit bulk challenges, or proposed corrections, to the location data in the Fabric," it said.
The
FCC was mandated by the Broadband Data Act of 2020 to create new
federal broadband maps. The new maps will inform how much funding each
state gets from the $42.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and
Deployment (BEAD) program.
(Source: B Christopher/Alamy Stock Photo)
The general public will have a chance to weigh in on the maps too. "Once the maps are released, we will open a process for the public and other stakeholders to make challenges directly through the map interface," said Rosenworcel.
A second draft of the map is expected to be released in December, according to the FCC's public notice.
In Rosenworcel's note, entitled "Another Step Toward Better Broadband Maps," the chairwoman seemed to acknowledge tension about the mapping process and outcome but reiterated that the result will be an improvement on existing data.
"Looking ahead, there's one more important thing to note about the new maps. When the first draft is released, it will provide a far more accurate picture of broadband availability in the United States than our old maps ever did. That's worth celebrating. But our work will in no way be done. That's because these maps are iterative. They are designed to [be] updated, refined, and improved over time," wrote Rosenworcel.
"All of this will require persistent effort—from the agency, providers, and other stakeholders. The Commission is committed to doing this hard work and keeping the public informed of our efforts every step of the way," she said.
Related posts:
- Rural ISPs struggling to meet FCC mapping deadline
- 'Completely backwards.' Skeptics fret over federal broadband map
- CostQuest counts 23-25M homes, businesses unserved or underserved by broadband
- FCC sets September 1 deadline for broadband data collection
— Nicole Ferraro, editor, Light Reading, and host of "The Divide" podcast.
Policy / Civilization & Discontents
T-Mobile spends $304 million to win over 90% of available 2.5 GHz licenses.
"T-Mobile won the lion's share of spectrum licenses in the latest Federal Communications Commission auction, helping it fill rural network gaps that evoked comparisons to Swiss cheese. T-Mobile's winning bids totaled $304.3 million, letting it obtain 7,156 licenses out of 7,872 that were sold, the FCC announced yesterday.
T-Mobile's licenses are spread across 2,724 counties (out of 3,143 total in the US). The second-highest bidder in dollar terms was PTI Pacifica, which spent $17.7 million on nine licenses in five counties. "With most of the available spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band located in rural areas, this auction provides vital spectrum resources to support wireless services in rural communities," the FCC said.
The auction provided up to three blocks of spectrum, totaling 117.5MHz in each county. In terms of the number of licenses won, the second-place finisher was the North American Catholic Educational Programming Fund. Its winning bids totaled $7.8 million and cover 107 licenses in 84 counties.
There were 63 winning bidders overall, and the auction raised $427.8 million. Small entities and rural service providers were given discounts on the license costs. The 2.5 GHz spectrum was originally set aside for educational institutions but has been repurposed for commercial service.
T-Mobile network already big on 2.5 GHz
Mid-band spectrum such as 2.5 GHz has been good for boosting capacity and speeds over relatively large areas. While low-band spectrum is best at covering long distances and penetrating obstacles, there's more spectrum available in the middle and upper bands. At the highest extreme, millimeter-wave spectrum provides the fastest speeds but has the smallest coverage areas.
T-Mobile already makes heavy use of 2.5 GHz spectrum in its 5G network. AT&T and Verizon use mid-band spectrum in the 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz range, which they've deployed more slowly than planned because airlines haven't yet retrofitted or replaced all of the older airplane altimeters that can't filter out transmissions from outside their allotted frequencies.
The new 2.5 GHz licenses are "flexible‐use geographic overlay licenses," which means there are restrictions on use to protect carriers already operating in the spectrum. "With overlay licenses, licensees obtain the rights to geographic area licenses 'overlaid' on top of the existing incumbent licenses. As with an ordinary flexible-use license, the overlay licensee may operate anywhere within its geographic area, subject to protecting the licensed areas of incumbent licensees," the FCC explains.
But that won't present a problem for T-Mobile. As FierceWireless wrote in March after the FCC set the auction rules, the auction is "for 'white spaces' of the 2.5 GHz band where no one owns the spectrum. T-Mobile is particularly interested in Auction 108 because it already owns or leases much of the 2.5 GHz spectrum across the United States, and it wants to fill in the gaps in its coverage."
T-Mobile to fix “Swiss cheese” network problem
2.5 GHz licenses were first distributed to educational institutions in the 1980s in "35-mile-radius circles" that "left oddly shaped white spaces where no one owns the spectrum," FierceWireless explained. T-Mobile already had leases with schools around the country to use the licenses.
"T-Mobile is likely to be the major winner, as the auction will allow the company to fix the 'Swiss cheese' problem its 2.5 GHz network grid is known to suffer from," New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin wrote at the time.
Before the auction, AT&T and Verizon requested more information on the lease agreements to help them decide whether to bid. The FCC denied the request, saying that "adoption of proponents' expanded disclosure requirement is beyond the bounds of the existing spectrum leasing rules and the Commission's prior determinations supporting those disclosure requirements."
AT&T didn't buy any licenses in the auction. Verizon, listed under its "Cellco Partnership" name in the auction results, won 12 licenses in nine counties for $1.5 million.
Jon Brodkin / Jon is Ars Technica's senior IT reporter, covering the FCC and broadband, telecommunications, tech policy, and more.
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