SENDD’s speed test initiative painted a more accurate picture of broadband service across the region by representing service and speed at every address that submitted a test. For years, the FCC has similarly sought to evaluate broadband availability at a more granular level. On November 18, the FCC published the highly-anticipated “fabric map” at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. The concept is simple: report broadband availability information including providers, speeds, and technologies at every single home and business in the country. As with any first draft, the maps released last month are in need of revisions – and everyone has been handed a red pen with the FCC’s incorporation of fabric and availability challenges.
A solid quick-start guide is available at broadband.nebraska.gov/FCCBroadbandMapChallenge.
Each state’s allocation of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds is based in part on these maps. At the end of June 2023, the NTIA will evaluate the nationwide total of unserved locations and allocate to each state $100 million plus an additional amount adjusted for the state’s share of said total locations. Put differently, challenges that prove a location to be unserved (rather than underserved) or call into question the validity of a provider’s reporting mean more money for broadband deployment in Nebraska. Challenges could mean the difference between $150 million and $250 million – and tens of thousands of homes receiving cutting-edge high speed internet.
Between now and January 13, 2023, focus first on verifying availability of Licensed Fixed Wireless, Copper (DSL), Cable, and Fiber reported at a given location. Satellite (both GSO and NGSO) and Unlicensed Fixed Wireless are not considered “reliable broadband technologies,” and entries delivered by these technologies will NOT be counted in the final tally of unserved/served locations to determine NE’s BEAD allocation.
The National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA), the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) ran a Digital Equity Plan Workshop hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City September 29th and 30th. Michael Dwiggins and Oliver Borchers-Williams attended the workshop on the invitation of Anne Byers, Nebraska’s point-person for the federal State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. The workshop, which was attended by representatives from multiple states, was intended to clarify the rules and requirements of the digital equity grant program and give the people running the states’ digital equity programs knowledge and material to effectively plan and implement the grants.
The purpose of Michael and Oliver attending the workshop was so they could learn what is recommended by the NDIA on how to plan for the capacity grants and how to implement these recommendations. These included an outline for the digital equity plan, creating an asset inventory to catalog existing digital equity efforts in the region, and data sources that can be used to gather important information on the covered populations in the region.
One of the most helpful resources the NDIA handed out was a model outline for the state digital equity plan. The handout clearly outlined all the steps mandated by the NOFO for the digital equity grant, and Anne decided to adopt it as a skeleton for the state’s digital equity plan. Michael and Oliver, along with the other development districts, will work with Anne to flesh out this skeleton and fill it with details that accurately reflect the plans of the development districts and the state as a whole. The adoption of this plan creates additional opportunities for SENDD to help shape the state’s digital equity plan and ensure that the needs of our stakeholders are fully met.
To learn more about Broadband or if you would like to sit down with Michael or Oliver to determine how your community/county can strengthen their broadband efforts, please call our office today.
