H.R. 9450: PROTOCOL Act

This bill requires federal agencies administering funding programs for broadband deployment to coordinate with one another, and with the states, to collect, publish, and utilize data on government-funded broadband deployments.

Specifically, the bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect and publish additional data in the Broadband Funding Map, which captures the location of each federally funded broadband deployment project. The bill also requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to include similar information in its database of broadband funding projects, the Federal Broadband Funding Report Dashboard. The FCC and the NTIA shall ensure consistency between the map and the dashboard.

Further, the NTIA shall request from each state an annual report listing locations in the state where broadband access was made available through a federal- or state-funded award, and locations to be served via sub-grants made to third parties through a federal- or state-funded award. This information shall be in both the map and the dashboard.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.