Home Local News GRASSLEY SAYS RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

GRASSLEY SAYS RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

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Iowa’s two U-S senators are appealing to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to do more to ensure the accuracy of maps detailing broadband access in rural America.

Senator Chuck Grassley says he and Joni Ernst are finding radical differences between what the F-C-C maps say versus what technology infrastructure is truly in place across Iowa.

OC…………network funding. :19

Grassley says the F-C-C data “drastically overstates” the level of broadband access throughout Iowa.

OC………..”isn’t the case” :20

Grassley says in Chickasaw County in northeast Iowa, data available from technology companies suggests that only six-percent of Chickasaw County residents have access to the internet at broadband speeds.

A letter Ernst and Grassley sent the F-C-C says they appreciate efforts to expand rural broadband connectivity, but note it’s “critical for these maps to be improved” so public and private partners have access to accurate data in order to bridge the digital divide.

Radio Iowa