The U.S. Senate has passed the Broadband Deployment and Technological Availability (DATA) Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation intended to make funding available for utilities to bring high-speed internet service to their communities.
Senators passed an earlier version of this legislation in December, but another vote was needed to bring the bill into line with a version passed by the House of Representatives. The bill currently awaits the president’s signature.
The DATA Act would require the Federal Communication Commission to come up with new rules requiring the collect and disseminate granular broadband availability data and establish a way to verify this data.
According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the bill also would make it illegal to provide false information to the FCC and allows cooperatives, consumers, local governments and others to challenge FCC maps with data of their own.
“Bridging the digital divide is impossible without accurate service maps showing who has broadband access and who doesn’t,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “The Broadband DATA Act charts a course for a more connected rural America and is a welcome bipartisan solution under the leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee. It builds on the success of more than 100 electric co-op rural broadband projects and injects much-needed accountability into the broadband mapping process.”
Reps. Greg Walden of Oregon and Bob Latta of Mississippi said access to high-speed internet is crucial, but 19 million Americans, particularly in rural areas, lack access to broadband services.
"To expand broadband to communities that need it, we must know exactly where those communities are. The bipartisan Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act will do just that, by improving mapping capabilities so we collect more accurate data, boost connectivity, and make sure our limited resources are used most effectively. We thank our Senate colleagues for moving swiftly to pass this important bill that takes steps to improve connectivity for all Americans, regardless of zip code, and look forward to President Trump signing it into law,” according to a joint announcement from Reps. Latta and Walden.
