Last week I published an analysis of what the new FCC maps show for locations unserved and underserved by broadband. With some time to think about the data, here are more thoughts on what these new maps mean for new deployment programs. 7.8 million unserved locations, or 6.9% of the total locations, meet expectations almost exactly. It’s 118% higher than the 3.58 million unserved housing units in the Form 477 data. Most people, including me, assumed the number of unserved would double. It did.
Great posting. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I do wonder whether the private sector will step up with required matches in higher-cost areas. I also wonder whether inflation, labor, and supply chain issues will further push up costs. From your post, it generally sounds like good news for unserved communities and to a large extent underserved communities. I do wonder how much will be left over for broadband adoption programs, which is often a harder nut to crack. Also, just curious, what happened to Puerto Rico?
Great posting. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I do wonder whether the private sector will step up with required matches in higher-cost areas. I also wonder whether inflation, labor, and supply chain issues will further push up costs. From your post, it generally sounds like good news for unserved communities and to a large extent underserved communities. I do wonder how much will be left over for broadband adoption programs, which is often a harder nut to crack. Also, just curious, what happened to Puerto Rico?