The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that broadband deployment data collected by the Federal Communications Commission from service providers overstates the availability of broadband access on Tribal lands. GAO made this finding because broadband is considered to be “available” for an entire census block if the provider could serve at least one location in the census block.
Moreover, GAO found that the “FCC does not collect information on several factors—such as affordability, quality, and denials of service—that FCC and tribal stakeholders stated can affect the extent to which Americans living on tribal lands can access broadband services.”
The FCC also “does not have a formal process to obtain tribal input on the accuracy of provider-submitted broadband data,” the report said.
