FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel shared the news yesterday during a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing. The maps are mandated by the Broadband DATA Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in March 2020, and essential for distributing new federal broadband dollars from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The updated maps have faced a number of delays, as outlined by Rosenworcel back in December. But now, the maps will be built in the fall. After the maps are completed, stakeholders will examine the accuracy of the maps.
“We’re going to start a challenge process to let states, localities, tribes and consumers take a look at our maps and tell us what they think we got wrong and then make the carriers respond to that,” Rosenworcel said.
Due to often-cited limitations with current FCC broadband maps, states and local areas have had to take cartography duties into their own hands to identify the true digital haves and have-nots. States like Georgia and Wisconsin are seen as leaders in the broadband mapping field.
