The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has proposed final rules to launch the new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The fund would target rural areas where residents lack access to adequate broadband. Center for Rural Affairs Policy Director Johnathan Hladik says that’s badly needed.

He says improved data will help officials know where that broadband access is lacking and help them target it.

Hladik says this latest FCC proposal will go well with legislation they’re backing that will be introduced in the Nebraska legislature next week. It calls for better mapping of where broadband is most needed and will dovetail into digital opportunity data collection at the national level.

The FCC Chairman’s proposed broadband rule will be voted on by the FCC at its open meeting on January 30.