ATLANTA (AP) – A mapping program is finding that rural broadband access in Georgia is worse than federal officials first thought.
Lawmakers are trying to find ways of bringing more broadband service to rural areas – and they need to know the extent of the problem.
However, lawmakers have only had inaccurate maps from the Federal Communications Commission, WABE Radio reported.
Deana Perry, who runs the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ rural broadband program, told lawmakers that the FCC maps used census blocks. If one person had broadband in a block, the whole block was classified as served.
“The FCC maps vastly understate the unserved areas by comparison to our mapping. One of the reasons for that is their methodology,” Perry recently told the House Rural Development Council.