NTCA: FCC Should Address 'Lingering Structural Problems' in Broadband Data Collection

The FCC's broadband data collection process has "lingering structural problems" that "plague the promise and ultimate reliability of" the national broadband map, NTCA said in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez. The group said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 19-195 that the FCC should consider creating public heat maps, updating BDC challenge codes, making successful challenges more "sticky," improving verification efforts and technical standards, and closing a "loophole" where certain providers can "avoid submitting technical explanations for propagation assumptions." NTCA also stressed the need for "proper enforcement measures in the case of chronic overreporting of coverage."