The internet provider says the Commerce Department is already spending millions where residents already have access to high-speed internet.

PROVIDENCE − A tussle over the McKee administration’s proposed use of $108 million from a federal “internet for all” program has escalated into a lawsuit by Cox Communications against the state.

Cox is seeking to stop the RI Commerce Corporation from using a “flawed mapping and challenge process to build redundant broadband infrastructure in some of Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities…while ignoring residents who truly need better broadband service and financial assistance to pay for it.”

Put another way: Cox says Commerce plans to spend “millions of dollars to build internet infrastructure in … (areas) where residents already have access to high-speed internet.”

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That includes “homes in Barrington on Rumstick Road and Nayatt Point and residences along Ocean Drive in Newport … at the expense of Central Falls, Woonsocket and Providence,” said Cox Vice President Stephanie Federico.

In a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, Cox claims Commerce is using “inaccurate and manipulated broadband maps and data to support its agenda” and wants to charge the company $52,000 for “public access” to its data.

The legal battle — which has been brewing for some time — centers on the state’s economic development agency’s plans for Rhode Island’s share of $108 million from the federal “Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program,” which was created to “expand access to high-speed internet where it currently does not exist” and help those who currently cannot afford it.

The battle is coming as a federal subsidy program that helps those who can’t afford internet access expires, and Cox says that’s where the greater need lies.

“It’s hard to understand why the state of Rhode Island is trying to build an internet superhighway on top of what we’re building now, while families who need internet access are being left behind,” Federico said.

Cox recently announced a $120 million investment in Rhode Island, $20 million of which will go towards fiber projects in Newport, Portsmouth, Middletown and Jamestown.

What is the state’s reaction?

The McKee administration — including Commerce Secretary Elizabeth Tanner — has not yet responded directly to the newly filed lawsuit, which also alleges that the state tried to bill the company $52,000 for data the company requested through a public records request after the state agency ignored its request.

Spokesperson Matt Touchette told The Journal, “Rhode Island Commerce has not read the complaint because it has not yet been served with it,” but he added that the agency’s position on issues previously raised by Cox Communications was set forth in its July denial of Cox’s 9/11 motion for an exemption from what he called “extremely time-consuming and expensive” testing requirements imposed by Commerce to present its case.

But these problems are not new.

In an Aug. 18 op-ed in The Journal, Tim Wilkerson, president of the New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association, which includes Cox, wrote: “This one-time injection of funds is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, but how it is spent will determine whether cities and towns are treated fairly…. Unfortunately, we are off to a bad start.

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“The current plan — being implemented by Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Elizabeth Tanner — redirects funds to Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities, leaving the rest of the state and financially vulnerable families behind,” he wrote.

“The fact is that the Ocean State is one of, if not the this “the best states in the country for internet infrastructure and services,” he wrote.

“This didn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of years of work and billions of dollars invested by private internet service providers – including Cox’s recent three-year investment in broadband internet access of more than $120 million,” he said.

Tanner filed her own comment a few days later. She acknowledged that Jamestown, Newport and Westerly had been selected as the first project sites. She said the selection was based in part on “hundreds of thousands of speed tests to best understand the network capacity and speeds experienced by residents and businesses across the state.”

“While it’s true that these communities have some affluent neighborhoods, they also have significant broadband deficits that need to be addressed.”

Ultimately, she said, “All municipalities with unserved or underserved locations will see investments that help close the digital divide and keep the state competitive.”

Competition?

The word “competitive” seems to be at the heart of the argument.

Cox, citing the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Internet Availability Map, states that 99.3% of Rhode Islanders have access to high-speed Internet.

For the purposes of the BEAD program, an “unserved” household is defined as a household with download speeds of less than 25 Mbps and upload speeds of less than 3 Mbps (“25/3”) and an “underserved” household is defined as a household with download speeds of less than 100 Mbps and upload speeds of less than 20 Mbps (“100/20”).

Cox says Commerce’s mapping process is flawed “reclassified 30,000 homes as “underserved,” including those in affluent neighborhoods, and questioned the findings.

“We know their analysis is flawed because Cox is providing high-speed internet access in the very locations and areas it believes are underserved,” Cox’s Federico said.

Cox said the company had repeatedly asked the Commerce Department for the data it relied on to support its reclassification process.

Here’s the company’s account of what happened: Initially, Commerce ignored the request; “then, when Cox filed an APRA request in an attempt to access information that should be readily available to the public, Cox was asked to produce a check for more than $52,000 and informed that it would take thousands of hours to fulfill the request.”

“Not only have they hidden the data on which they base their plan, but they have also created bureaucratic obstacles that make challenging their maps impossible,” the company said.

“As part of the Department of Commerce’s challenge program, Cox would be required to conduct approximately 60,000 field visits by its technicians throughout Rhode Island over a 30-day period between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.