USTelecom Details to FCC 'Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric'
USTelecom proposed creating a "Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric" (BSLF) as a "uniform foundation for dramatically more accurate FCC Form 477 reporting" to pinpoint unserved areas, said a filing in docket 11-10 on the mapping initiative it announced with partners Thursday…
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(see 1903210041). "Multiple data sources, scoring routines, and managed visual review are required," including "parcel boundaries, parcel attributes (e.g., land use, assessed value, number of units, etc.)." With CostQuest, USTelecom plans a pilot in Virginia and Missouri lasting four to six months using "open source" and commercial data. Because some data is scarce or conflicting, CostQuest "will use a managed crowdsourcing visual review process to, for example, inspect satellite imagery to align building data with visible structures or to validate an incomplete attribute record," said USTelecom, projecting up to 75,000 such reviews per state. Carriers will provide confidential data on addresses they serve or have served with fixed service, and will be able to compare their lists with the final BSLF, helping them with Form 477 filings, it said. If the FCC agrees results show the methodology is applicable, it could take one to two more years to finish a nationwide fabric costing $10 million to develop and $2.5 million annually to update, the association said. NCTA highlighted its proposal "that can be implemented nationwide very quickly, without any need for a pilot, and would result in the granular data needed to more accurately identify areas ... not served by" fixed broadband. Providers would submit "shapefiles" -- electronic maps showing actual service contours -- that the FCC would compile into a national map, augmented by crowdsourcing.