Free Press Says FCC 706 Report Seems to Use 'Wildly' Inflated Data; Democrats Concerned
An FCC broadband report draft appears to rely on "tremendous over-reporting by a single CLEC/WISP," Free Press said. "Wildly over-inflated" data from Barrier Communications (BarrierFree) exaggerates the agency's claimed improvement in national broadband deployment in 2017, FP filed, posted Wednesday in docket 18-238. It said the FCC must address the error before adopting the 2019 report on the adequacy of advanced telecom capability deployment pursuant to a Telecom Act Section 706 mandate.
“Free Press’s allegations are troubling," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks in a statement. "The FCC’s maps are frequently criticized for being inaccurate and overstating broadband coverage. The maps and deployment data are becoming a repeat offender. ... [J]ust last week, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, who also has a big role to play [on] rural broadband initiatives, sharply criticized the FCC’s deployment maps. I am digging in to the data underlying Free Press’s filing and I hope the Chairman does as well." The FCC shouldn't put out the report "without getting to the bottom of this," he said. Without accurate data and maps, "we are woefully unprepared to make a number of critical policy decisions," Starks added. "I disagree with the rosy picture that the Chairman painted when he described the Commission’s draft broadband report last month and news like this just makes matters worse.”
"This filing raises questions that merit serious scrutiny," said an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Other commissioner officers didn't comment. BarrierFree didn't respond to our call. Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr cited broadband progress at an event Wednesday (see 1903060056).
BarrierFree was a new filer submitting December 2017 Form 477 broadband data that claimed deployment of fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless services to census blocks with 62 million people, said Free Press. That would make it the fourth-largest ISP in coverage, "an implausible suggestion," FP said, dismissing the possibility of "a new entrant going from serving zero Census blocks as of June 30, 2017, to serving nearly 1.5 million blocks containing nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population in just six months time." BarrierFree "appears to have simply submitted as its coverage area a list of every single Census block" in the eight states it claims to serve, FP said.
"Further investigation strongly suggests BarrierFree grossly misreported its deployment," Free Press said. It said BarrierFree claims to offer up to 940/880 Mbps in all of its census blocks using both FTTH and fixed wireless: "This speed combination is unique to Verizon’s FiOS FTTH service, and Verizon is the only other 477 filer to claim such a speed tier." BarrierFree's website shows it doesn't market FTTH service and its maximum fixed wireless speed is 25 Mbps, FP said.
Claims in Chairman Ajit Pai's Feb. 19 release apparently relied on "false BarrierFree deployment" data, including that Americans lacking 25/3 Mbps access dropped from 26.1 million to 19.4 million in 2017 (see 1902190057), Free Press said. Without BarrierFree data, the drop is to 21.3 million, FP said. It said BarrierFree's data also accounts for 2 million of 5.6 million claimed newly served rural customers.
"Barrier is not a member of WISPA; we don't have any part in this matter," emailed the Wireless ISP Association. "WISPA and our members take all government regulations and reporting seriously; we do not encourage nor approve of what's being alleged/implied by Free Press. While the facts need to play out, if the behavior was a purposeful attempt by Barrier to 'cook the books' for any reason, that would be unacceptable in our view. ... Our members are good actors and want to help the Commission know what's out there, as they work to deploy high-speed broadband out to the hinterlands."
Incompas also said BarrierFree isn't a member. "We have not heard of this company before," emailed General Counsel Angie Kronenberg.
It's "questionable" whether Pai's policy "has had any impact on broadband deployment," given steady improvements in recent years, Free Press said. "Year-to-year changes in carriers’ capital spending plans are largely a function of what infrastructures they’ve already deployed, where they are individually in the technology cycle, and the level of competition they face."
On Lifeline, Free Press and New America's Open Technology Institute cited "harmful" FCC rulemaking proposals "and missteps in implementation of the National Verifier program and other eligibility tests," said a filing posted Wednesday on a meeting with Rosenworcel and aides in docket 11-42.
The groups repeated opposition to the planned T-Mobile buy of Sprint. Free Press also "offered preliminary analysis of the planned Nexstar/Tribune merger," and while it didn't express a view, it said if the deal were finalized, it "would rely on gross undercounting under the national audience reach cap of viewers actually reached, thanks to continued availability of the technologically obsolete and unjustified UHF discount."