Whiteside County Economic Development Director Gary Camarano urges all Whiteside County residents to join in the challenge to maximize the internet quality of Whiteside County. A press release on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, offers details of the project and explains the rewards that the urgency to act offers. Whiteside County is moving ahead with its plans to deploy broadband fiber to the unserved and underserved areas of the County.
As policymakers work to close the digital divide, accurate broadband availability maps are crucially important. The FCC recently updated its National Broadband Maps; however numerous errors persist. Since these maps will guide policymakers as they determine where billions of dollars are spent, taking swift action to ensure these maps are accurate is essential.
What Service Providers Are Doing
Internet service providers, Governments, and other entities can submit challenges to the data displayed by the map. These challenges are meant to dispute the availability data submitted by a provider. They will do this by providing data identifying locations; the provider being challenged; a reason for the challenge; information about the methodology used to collect the bulk data. The FCC will use this data to verify and supplement information in the maps. Bulk challenges can be submitted by an organization or Government entity that has an FCC Registration Number (FRN).
Sand Prairie, a service of Jo-Carroll Energy, and the internet service provider selected by the Whiteside County Board to help deploy broadband fiber in rural areas of the County, plans to submit bulk challenge information for inaccuracies in the new National Broadband Map, for the areas it serves and plans to serve.
What You Can Do
Individuals can also challenge the information in the maps. These new broadband maps identify where broadband is or is not available. By participating in the challenge process, American families and businesses–including those in Whiteside County–can help ensure the maps are accurate and that this funding goes to connect rural communities.
It is important to note, challenges are meant to dispute the availability data submitted by a provider, not the quality of service a provider offers. Each availability challenge is sent to the internet provider in question and requires a response from them to each challenge.
To Submit an Individual Challenge
Search for your address at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. Your address should appear on the map. If your location is missing, the location’s placement on the map may be incorrect, or the address or unit count for your location is incorrect. If this happens, you can submit a location challenge.
The map will also display internet availability at your location, including a list of providers, network technology they use, and the maximum advertised download and upload speeds at your location. If the services listed are not available or contain inaccurate information, you can submit an availability challenge. Reviewing the map data should take less than five minutes. If the information you see on the map is incorrect, the FCC asks you to submit a short description disputing the information and supporting documentation, if you have it. If everything you see displayed is correct, there is no need to do anything.
The U. S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will use the FCC’s new maps to allocate $42.5 billion in infrastructure funding to rural broadband projects. NTIA expects to decide where to allocate this funding by June 2023. NTIA recognizes there may be errors in the FCC’s maps. With that in mind, they encourage stakeholders to submit challenges to the FCC maps, by January 13, 2023, in order for challenges to be considered by the time NTIA makes its allocations.
Need More Information?
If you have any questions or need assistance, reach out to the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s Office of Broadband at broadband@illinois.gov. Also, here is a link to a short video on “How to File Location and Availability Challenges to FCC’s Broadband Map Using Your Computer,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ldS3bi4bjc.