Faster Internet Is Coming to America—as Soon as the Government Knows Where to Build It

The $42 billion broadband plan is slowed by lack of accurate maps showing gaps in service

By Ryan Tracy, Drew FitzGerald and Anthony DeBarros of The Wall Street Journal. Excerpts:

"The government’s $42.5 billion plan to expand internet service to underserved communities is stuck in a holding pattern nearly nine months after approval, largely because authorities still don’t know where gaps need to be filled.

The broadband plan, part of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Biden last November, stipulates that money to improve service can’t be doled out until the Federal Communications Commission completes new maps showing where homes and businesses lack fast service.

Lawmakers demanded new maps after flawed data in past subsidy programs caused construction projects across the country to bypass many of the Americans that they were supposed to serve. Officials warn, however, that getting the mapping right will take time."

"“The maps are not going to be issued from the FCC until a little bit later this year, and until that happens, the money really can’t start to flow at the state level,” AT&T Chief Executive John Stankey told analysts on a July conference call."

"In Mr. Carlson’s census block [Randy Carlson, mayor of Harris, Minn.], the FCC’s existing maps showed that rural broadband provider CenturyLink reported offering both fiber and digital-subscriber-line, or DSL, service at speeds that met the commission’s definition of broadband. In reality, that fiber line doesn’t run to Mr. Carlson’s home, and his DSL service struggles with large file downloads and video calls, he said."

"The U.S. has long lacked reliable maps of broadband service."