FCC walks back data on broadband gains

Gains in broadband internet access are smaller than previously reported, according to tech publication Ars Technica.

The Federal Communications Commission corrected an estimate of Americans without broadband internet published in February. The FCC previously reported the number of Americans without access to broadband dropped from 26.1 million to 19.4 million between 2016 and 2017. The corrected number of Americans lacking access to broadband at the end of 2017 is 21.3 million.

The error stems from erroneous reporting from BarrierFree, a new internet service provider.  Ars Technica reports that rural broadband gains and high-speed internet gains were also overstated in the initial data.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a press release that the correction did not change the agency's conclusion that "we are closing the digital divide."

Read more here.

 

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