The discussion of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program challenge process continued during the latest National Broadband Mapping Coalition monthly call, which took place on November 29, 2023.
Coalition leader Dustin Loup opened the discussion with an overview of notable updates to the challenge process. On the positive side, these updates include the addition of tribal governments as a distinct entity type for submitting challenges and a lowering of the threshold for the number units within a multiple dwelling unit (MDU) building needed for a challenge. The one negative update he noted concerned speed tests, which can now only be used to challenge a change in designation for a location from served to underserved.
Alexis Schrubbe of the University of Chicago Data Science Institute provided some insights on the number of challenges to expect from a recent NTIA-hosted call for the State Broadband Leaders Network. Virginia reported over 130,000 challenges submitted, far more than the expected volume of about a thousand. Louisiana also experienced a greater number than expected, reporting about 110,000 challenges, mostly concerning enforceable commitments.
Dustin provided a link to the Challenge Process Tracker spreadsheet and invited everyone to help fill in missing information. His call for additional comments on state-level activities was answered by Ryan Johnston of Next Century Cities, who has reviewed challenges from Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He commented on a lack of communications among different responding entities units and the need to address affordability. He also offered their State Broadband Policy Map as an information source for state-by-state status.
Responding on behalf of EducationSuperHighway, Stephanie Silver cited affordability and scoring rubrics for challenges as chief concerns. She also advocated for including low-income housing developments as community anchor institutions (CAIs). Christine Parker of the Institute of Local Self-Reliance shared observations gained from looking at responses from Appalachian states and other states. She reported seeing varying sources and methods used for documenting broadband coverage, making it difficult to create an overall assessment.
The final topic addressed on the call was challenge preparation support. Responding to the questions Dustin posed on requirements for various challenge types and how data needs to be collected, Alexis proposed creating a living document on challenge preparation. The Collaborative Questions: BEAD Challenge Process document is now available for anyone to contribute answers or pose additional questions. In addition, Robert Martin shared a link to the demo version of the Ask Broadband FAQ on the Broadband Commons website.
The next National Broadband Mapping Coalition monthly call will include updates on state broadband office challenges. Watch for the announcement of the date and time, along with instructions for joining the call.
