July 24, 2019
Background: The Senate Commerce Committee today unanimously passed the “Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act.” Introduced in June by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the bill will create a new national broadband map.
The following statement can be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom:
“Nearly four months after launching our mapping pilot program, the Senate Commerce Committee passed a plan mandating the adoption of the new USTelecom methodology to locate broadband serviceable locations. This is important progress. Senators on both sides of the aisle know that fixing our maps goes hand in hand with ensuring federal resources reach communities in their states without access to broadband as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is a big win for the cause of rural broadband and for good public policy.”
Representing a major evolution in the way broadband service is mapped in the United States, USTelecom and a diverse consortium of broadband companies and associations created the Broadband Mapping Initiative in March 2019 to more accurately map broadband deployment nationwide. Learn more HERE.