One More Mapping Challenge

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is requiring state broadband offices to have one final mapping challenge at the state level before the state can issue the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants. This final challenge is the one that folks have been waiting for since the NTIA suggests that there can be a challenge against the claimed broadband speeds. My consulting firm has been working with communities, and we are still seeing a lot of inaccurate information. This is because Federal Communications Commission rules allow broadband providers to claim marketing speeds for broadband instead of the actual speed delivered. In every county we have examined, we find broadband providers claiming speeds of 100/20 Mbps or faster that are not supported by Ookla speed tests.