By Steven Allen Adams, The Inter-Mountain
CHARLESTON — Lawmakers at the state and congressional level are working to make sure the next batch of broadband coverage maps accurately show West Virginia’s need for high-speed internet expansion, especially as the state is poised to receive funds to make it happen.
A report from the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) sent to the Federal Communications Commission on May 6 alerting the commission to errors in the awarding of phase I of FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction.
The auction allocated $9.2 billion over a 10-year period to subsidize construction of high-speed gigabit internet in unserved rural areas across the U.S. Phase II of the auction, likely to take place later this year, will reward more funding for buildout of broadband in underserved parts of the country. Nine companies in West Virginia received $362.1 million.
The CCA report found that due to inaccurate broadband coverage maps used by the FCC to determine what areas of the nation are unserved and underserved, federal funding awarded through phase I of the auction went to parts of the U.S. that have dependable access to high-speed internet already…
To read more: https://www.theintermountain.com/news/local-news/2021/05/lawmakers-call-for-accurate-broadband-maps/
