Verizon, T-Mobile Overstate Claims With $43 Billion at Stake (1)

Tiny Gerlach, Nevada, looks like the ideal place to receive some of the $42.5 billion in federal funds that President Joe Biden has targeted to provide internet access to underserved areas.

There’s just one catch: The town of 161, gateway to the state’s Black Rock Desert, already has broadband access, according to a government map showing that T-Mobile US Inc. provides service there. If that’s true, Gerlach is unlikely to be eligible for help from the once-in-a-generation program.

City of Gerlach informational sign and sign giving elevation.

Photographer: Education Images/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images

“There is no reliable broadband up there,” insists Washoe County Manager Eric Brown, whose jurisdiction includes Gerlach. “The fact that ...