Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In this document, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) (collectively, the Bureau and Offices) adopt technical requirements to implement the mobile challenge, verification, and crowdsourcing processes required by the Broadband DATA Act. The Bureau and Offices adopt the proposed processes and methodology set forth in the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) Mobile Technical Requirements Proposed Rules for collecting challenge process data and for determining when the threshold to create a cognizable challenge has been met. Additionally, the Bureau and Offices adopt detailed processes for mobile providers to respond to challenges, for the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) to initiate a verification request to a service provider, and for providers to respond to verification requests to confirm broadband coverage in areas they claim have service. The Bureau and Offices adopt the parameters and metrics that must be collected both for on-the-ground test data to support challenge submissions, rebuttals to cognizable challenges, and responses to verification requests, and for infrastructure information to support challenge rebuttals and responses to verification requests. Government entities and third parties are required to submit verified broadband data using the same data specifications required of mobile service providers. Finally, the Bureau and Offices find the Commission's speed test app to be a reliable and efficient method for entities to use in submitting crowdsourced mobile coverage data to the Commission and describe the methodology staff will use in determining when a "critical mass of" crowdsourced filings suggests that a provider has submitted inaccurate or incomplete data. The measures adopted in this document to implement the mobile challenge, verification, and crowdsourcing processes will enable the Commission, Congress, other Federal and state policy makers, Tribal entities, consumers, and other third parties to verify and supplement the data collected by the Commission on the status of mobile broadband availability throughout the United States.