Anybody who is intimately familiar with the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map knows that there is a lot of fiction buried in the reporting. There is one huge flaw in the FCC mapping system that has carried over from the previous FCC mapping regime—internet service providers (ISP) self-report the speeds they can deliver. Per the FCC mapping rules, ISPs can claim broadband marketing speeds rather than some approximation of actual speeds. In every county where I’ve delved deep into the local situation, I’ve found multiple ISPs that are overclaiming broadband speeds. ISPs vary widely in how they report broadband speeds to the FCC. I’m always instantly suspicious of any ISP that claims exactly 100/20 Mbps broadband since that conveniently classifies those locations as served. An ISP making that claim is telling the FCC that everybody in their service footprint already has adequate broadband and that there is no need to give grant money to anybody to compete with them. A second flaw in the FCC maps is the coverage areas claimed by ISPs. The FCC is counting on public broadband challenges or challenges by State Broadband Offices to somehow fix this problem—but that’s an unrealistic hope. It’s going to be interesting to see how States react to these final counts. There have been rumors about states ready to sue the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration if they feel these maps will cheat them out of funding. An even bigger issue is if the FCC maps will be used to determine the locations that are grant eligible—because that would be a travesty. 

Republican lawmakers voted to eliminate Governor Tony Evers' (D-WI) proposed $750 million investment in broadband, saying the state would wait for an upcoming influx of federal broadband funding instead. The move by Republicans on the budget committee would mark the first time in a decade that the legislature hasn't set aside funding for broadband expansion. It comes at a time when the federal government is expected to spend between $700 million and $1.1 billion on broadband expansion in Wisconsin as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The state's Public Service Commission has estimated the total cost of expanding broadband statewide at about $1.8 billion. But Republicans, including State Rep. Alex Dallman, said that while they support expanding broadband, it didn't make sense to spend state money now with so much federal funding on the way.

Berrien County’s 580 square miles encompasses 39 villages, townships, and cities. The county, situated on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore, is dominated by agriculture and tourism; many Chicago residents’ vacation homes are located here. A lack of broadband infrastructure in the county is actively threatening industrial innovation and hampering quality of life for residents as needs and demand for connectivity increase. As of today, the county has made substantial progress toward universal access within the community. Critical to these efforts were two behind-the-scenes champions: sixth-generation family farmer and County Commissioner Teri Sue Freehling, and landscape architect turned regional planner John Egelhaaf. Together, Teri and John provided the momentum necessary to capitalize on recent funding opportunities and deliver an actionable plan for improving broadband connectivity for their community. Teri’s acute ability to ignite a personal connection with residents from every walk of life and John’s persistent belief in the power of information have been critical drivers of Berrien County’s efforts to connect everyone in the county to broadband.

[Pierrette Renee Dagg is a Benton Institute Digital Opportunity Fund Fellow, the Director of Technology Impact Research at Merit Network, and a PhD student at University of Toledo. This is the first of six case studies that seek to understand the stories of broadband community champions and the factors that contributed to their success. This research is supported by the Marjorie & Charles Benton Opportunity Fund.]