Form 477 Replies Draw More Support for FCC Collecting Granular Data; Industry Still Resists

New commenters urged the FCC to collect more granular Form 477 company data on broadband and voice services, but industry parties continued to resist, in replies posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 11-10 on a Further NPRM. New York City "supports proposals to increase the granularity of the Commission’s data collections, standardize propagation models for mobile broadband collections, collect on-the-ground data, and make more data public," it replied. "Doing so would allow for more reliable and transparent comparison and assessment of broadband deployment."

Also weighing in for the first time, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission backs "collecting broadband access deployment data down to the address level within census blocks, making non-commercially sensitive data such as minimum advertised or expected speed data available to the public and incorporated in Form 477 filings going forward, and providing state commissions with full access to all the data collected in the Form 477 process on a state and national basis." ILECs should be required to report those census blocks in their wireline voice study areas in which they provide 'No Broadband,'" said Communications Workers of America, seeking improved collection of speed data. Urging increased "transparency, especially regarding mobile services," Deere said "greater uniformity and granularity in the coverage data reported is important to the agricultural community."

AT&T noted it and others argued against "unduly burdensome reporting obligations where the Commission has not demonstrated a compelling regulatory need." Initial comments (see 1710110038) show an FCC proposal "to collect mobile broadband and voice subscribership, and fixed broadband deployment at a more granular level, e.g. the sub-census block/address level, should be rejected because it would not generate useful information," the telco said. "Because providers do not record addresses in a standardized, uniform manner, address level data will likely provide the Commission with less accurate information than data collected at a more aggregated level." Such detailed data collection also "would be extremely burdensome for providers," the carrier said.

Broadband providers demonstrated the burdens of many FCC proposals, including for more granular data, would outweigh any benefit, said the Wireless ISP Association. Whether through "street addresses or geolocations," collecting "more granular fixed deployment data would be expensive and unnecessary," and may not be possible, said General Communication.

The American Cable Association said Form 477 shouldn't become the "sole vehicle for the collection of detailed" broadband and voice data. ACA said the form should "be the source for baseline data on broadband and voice services," with the Commission collecting "more extensive and more granular data through other mechanisms on an 'as needed' basis to achieve specific purposes." Also filing again were USTelecom, Windstream, NTCA and WTA.

Connected Nation said its proposal for creating an independent clearinghouse to collect broadband data may be the only feasible way to get more accurate and granular data, while protecting confidential information, streamlining reporting and ensuring consistent mechanisms. "This clearinghouse would carry out broadband data collection and analysis; map broadband availability, platforms, and speeds using GIS [geographic information system]; track where federal investments have been made to improve access; and process feedback submitted by consumers and conduct on-site field validation where necessary to ensure continual refinement of the maps," CN said.