Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel has created a Broadband Data Task Force to implement "long-overdue" improvements to the commission's broadband mapping and data collection.
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The task force will be headed by Jean Kiddoo, former head of the Incentive Auction Task Force.
“The Broadband Data Task Force will lead a cross-agency effort to collect detailed data and develop more precise maps about broadband availability,” said Rosenworcel. “I thank Jean and her team for their willingness to take on this vitally important project.”
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That team will include Chelsea Fallon as senior implementation officer and C. Sean Spivey as senior counsel.
Fallon is chief of the data division in the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics, where he has headed up implementation of the Broadband DATA Act. Spivey is assistant Bureau Chief in the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
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The announcement came at the FCC's monthly meeting, which included a presentation, led by Kiddoo, of the FCC's implementation of an order, both on its own initiative and under orders from Congress, to come up with better and more granular data on where broadband is and isn't.
"We commend Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel for establishing a Broadband Data Task Force to ensure the Commission is devoting the resources needed to produce accurate maps of broadband availability," said Scott Bergman, SVP of CTIA, the wireless association.
“We applaud the FCC and Commission staff for their diligent work to improve our country’s broadband maps, a critical step to connecting all Americans," said Joan Marsh, AT&T EVP of federal regulatory. "Accurate maps will more precisely target areas where gaps in broadband remain and are an imperative before the Commission can launch the second phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction. We look forward to continuing to work with the Commission on creating the nationwide ‘Fabric’ and new broadband maps so that more Americans have access to high-speed broadband.”
