Sponsors (15)
The bill improves broadband-targeting for rural and agricultural areas via a new public agricultural-location mapping layer, increasing the likelihood of better-directed investment, but it raises privacy/commercial-sensitivity concerns for landowners and creates timeline and implementation cost risks for the FCC.
Rural communities and farmers will get clearer, publicly available information about broadband availability where agricultural areas are mapped, helping identify unserved/underserved locations.
State governments and the USDA can better coordinate broadband grant-making and service planning using a standardized public map layer of agricultural locations, making funding decisions more consistent and targeted.
Agricultural businesses and farmers may receive prioritized investment as improved mapping helps target deployment, potentially increasing economic opportunities for rural producers.
Farmers, landowners, and agribusinesses could face privacy and commercial-sensitivity risks if detailed agricultural-location data is shared or published without explicit protections.
Rural communities and farmers may be harmed by errors or incomplete agricultural mapping if a 180-day integration deadline forces rushed data processing, potentially misguiding funding and deployment decisions.
Taxpayers and FCC staff could face increased costs and staffing burdens as preparing and integrating the new data layer raises implementation expenses and agency workload.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the FCC to add and maintain an agricultural-areas layer on the national broadband coverage map, with the initial update within 180 days of enactment.
Official title: To direct the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate into the National Broadband Map of the Commission a layer that presents data on the location of agricultural areas, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 12, 2025 by Erin Houchin · Last progress August 12, 2025
Requires the FCC to add and maintain an agricultural-areas layer on the national broadband coverage map and complete the initial update within 180 days of enactment. The FCC must consult with USDA, the Commerce official responsible for communications, State representatives, and other stakeholders when creating and updating this map layer.