FCC Votes to Collect Broadband Deployment Data

The FCC voted unanimously Thursday to collect broadband deployment data, which will be used to populate and update the National Broadband Map -- a job currently done by NTIA. An FCC spokesman said the report and order “initiates the most comprehensive collection of broadband deployment data by the FCC ever.” In their statements, the commissioners noted they were pushing back the question of whether to collect broadband pricing data, which they called a “sensitive,” “controversial” and “contentious” topic. Free Press and the New America Foundation (NAF) issued a statement expressing their disappointment that the commission won’t collect pricing information.

"While this item may not be flashy, it is critical to our agency’s effectiveness and core mission,” said acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, overseeing her first meeting as chair. She said she was “pleased” that the item “takes steps to explore” making the subscription data available to the public and researchers.

"We do not expand public access to Form 477 subscription data at this time,” the order said. It directed the Wireline Bureau to work with the Wireless Bureau “to explore ways to allow greater public access to Form 477 subscription data, and to increase public access to such data if this can be accomplished in a manner that addresses concerns about the competitive sensitivity of the data.” The order directed the bureaus to “develop a plan to enable” access to “disaggregated” data, to propose a definition of “researcher,” define “reasonable” terms and conditions for access, and “define a standard to ensure that sensitive data are not revealed through disclosure by such researchers.”

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai took the opportunity to lobby for the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act, which he said would reduce the FCC’s reporting burden that currently requires five separate reports. “Our congressional reporting requirements stem from a halcyon time when each silo of the communications industry was an easily defined marketplace unto itself,” Pai said (http://bit.ly/1aRqOYK). Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said in March that he plans to reintroduce the bill in this Congress (CD March 13 p5).

The order devotes only one paragraph to the collection of pricing data, noting in a footnote that the order does “not address the collection of price data or service quality and customer satisfaction data at this time, and those issues remain open for consideration.” In its accompanying regulatory flexibility analysis, the commission cites AT&T comments warning of the “significant and unnecessary burdens” that broadband providers could face in violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act if the commission required the collection of broadband pricing data.

Free Press is “deeply disappointed that politics once again trumped the public interest at the FCC,” said Policy Director Matt Wood. The Justice Department, National Broadband Plan, and several prior FCC proposals had identified the need to collect broadband pricing data, but “because powerful broadband companies oppose the collection of any information that would show just how uncompetitive this market is, the FCC is once again refusing to collect the basic data it needs to do its job,” Wood said. NAF Open Technology Institute policy counsel Sarah Morris said the association was “discouraged” by the lack of pricing collection. The groups had been pushing for the commission to withdraw the order to address their concerns (CD June 17 p10).

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said she looked forward to more discussions on broadband pricing data collection. “Studies consistently demonstrate that roughly one third of Americans choose not to subscribe to broadband, citing lack of relevance, lack of digital literacy, and lack of affordability,” she said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1aRrKw0). “How can our policies ensure that Americans do not end up on the wrong side of the digital divide without a better understanding of cost and affordability?” she asked. “We cannot manage what we do not measure. We cannot fix what we do not understand.”