STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL,
APPROVING IN PART, DISSENTING IN PART

Re:	Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90; Universal Service Reform – Mobility Fund, WT Docket No. 10-208 

	We have real broadband problems in this country.  There are too many rural communities that lack the high-speed service they need to have a fair shot at 21st century success.  

	If we want to fix this problem—and we should—we have to embrace what works.  Better data works.  So we need to start with ensuring that the Federal Communications Commission has the information it needs to address our broadband problems.  

	Right now, this agency lacks the data it should have about precisely where broadband service is and is not in communities across the country.  Our broadband maps are woefully inaccurate.  They overstate coverage and signal strength in rural communities and understate where universal service support is needed to ensure that remote areas are not left behind.  This problem is particularly acute with the wireless maps at issue here for the Mobility Fund II.  

This is unacceptable.  We will never be able to manage that which we do not measure—and right now our system for broadband measurement has real problems.  This, in turn, has real consequences.  If we lack accurate maps, we will not be able to target policy solutions effectively.  The FCC distributes billions of dollars each year to help accelerate the build-out of broadband.  It’s irresponsible for the agency to continue to do so without having a truly accurate picture of where those resources should go.

We can start with our wired map.  It overstates deployment.  If a carrier provides service to just one house in a census block, the map shows that entire block as served—regardless of whether it is or not.  So it was good news in the Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted last year that $7.5 million was set aside for the Department of Commerce to work on the National Broadband Map.  This funding could go a long way to improve what we have now.  But I fear that instead of building on what we have these funds will be used for discrete projects that in no way improve our national picture.  We need to use this support to increase the accuracy of the maps we have—and not waste resources by starting all over again.

Next, it is no secret that our wireless maps are a mess.  That is why the agency created the Mobility Fund II challenge process that is at the heart of today’s decision.  It is also why a few weeks ago, the Chairman announced that he was starting an investigation into one or more carriers responsible for the data in the agency’s existing wireless maps.  It turns out that much of the data we have may have been faulty from the start.  

While we get to the bottom of this mess, we need to embrace new ways to ensure this agency has the data it needs to build up-to-date broadband maps.  We can start with recognizing that the FCC has already committed to having the Universal Service Administrative Company test and validate the network deployment of winning bidders after they have built out using Mobility Fund auction support.  Why not give them a role in validating data before the auction, by sampling the data on our existing maps?  In addition, the FCC has more than a dozen filed offices across the country, from New York to New Orleans and Dallas to Denver.  Why not use these offices to spot check the data in our existing maps?  On top of that more than 200,00 volunteers have downloaded the FCC Speed Test application to test their wireless broadband connection.  Why not find a way to put his information to use, too?  

I think we should put all these ideas to work—as soon as possible.  Because if we want broadband that works for everyone, everywhere, we need to embrace what works.  Good data works.  Right now, we need more of it.  

While these are big ideas, what the agency does in this decision is small.  We adjust deadlines to allow certain facts to be used at the agency to inform what is known as the Mobility Fund II map challenge process.  This minor adjustment is sensible and has my support.  But it is also a missed opportunity—to do more to ensure that every community in this country is connected, that everyone has access to broadband, and that the data we develop to deliver this result is as accurate as it can be.  For this reason, I approve in part and dissent in part.