WASHINGTON – Senators Charles "Chuck" Grassley and Joni Ernst today sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai regarding the FCC’s role in ensuring the accuracy of broadband maps.
“According to your 2018 Broadband Deployment Report, more than three in four rural Iowans have access to broadband. More broadly, the report indicates that 90.5 percent of all Iowans have access to broadband. As much as we wish that were the case, we can tell you that the FCC data drastically overstates broadband access throughout our state,” the sens wrote.
“While we appreciate everything that the Commission has done to expand rural broadband connectivity, it is critical for these maps to be improved so public and private partners alike have access to the accurate data needed to bridge the digital divide.
“A validated set of data based upon standardized methods of granular reporting will be essential to ensure that funding is available throughout rural America.”
Text of the letter is available here and below.
