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New Data Order ‘Inadequate’ to Provide Information About Local Broadband Availability and Competition

Press Release

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2008 – Last week the Federal Communications Commission ordered broadband companies to provide the agency with more detailed information about the locations in which they offer high-speed internet access. But the information will not be released to the public.

Drew Clark, Executive Director of BroadbandCensus.com, made the following statement about the Federal Communication Commission’s order:

“The FCC should be applauded for attempting to collect more granular information about local broadband availability, but the simple fact is that only government bureaucrats – and not individual internet users – will benefit from this decision.

“Consumers need to know and understand their broadband options. The FCC’s order is inadequate to help them do that. Because the agency refuses to release the most basic public information about where broadband providers operate, internet consumers are left blindfolded. The FCC continues to publicly release large amounts of data about cable, television and radio companies that serve their communities. The FCC has refused to follow the same course for broadband, even though it is of far greater consequence. High-speed internet services are a crucial contributor to economic development, education, e-government, entertainment, the environment, health care and political participation.

“BroadbandCensus.com prides itself on providing consumers with the names of the broadband providers in their local ZIP codes. We encourage internet users to Take the Broadband Census and shine the light of transparency on the operations of the FCC, and of the telecommunications, cable and wireless carriers.”

BroadbandCensus.com also announced Monday that it is publishing daily content about broadband-related news, available for free at http://broadbandcensus.com.

Read the FCC’s Report and Order:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-89A1.pdf

Read the BroadbandCensus.com news articles about the Report and Order:
http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=35

Frequently Asked Questions about BroadbandCensus.com:
http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=1

Previous press release: “BroadbandCensus.com Launches Beta Version of Internet Speed Test:” http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=4

About Broadband Census.com:
Broadband Census LLC is organized as a Limited Liability Company in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Drew Clark is the principal member of Broadband Census LLC. BroadbandCensus.com is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License. That means that the content on BroadbandCensus.com is available for all to view, copy, redistribute and reuse for FREE, providing that attribution is provided to BroadbandCensus.com, and that such use is done for non-commercial purposes.

To find out more about the organizations and individuals providing financial, technical, research or outreach support to the Broadband Census, please visit http://broadbandcensus.com/home/aboutus

Contact:
Drew Clark, Executive Director
BroadbandCensus.com
E-mail: drew at broadbandcensus.com
Telephone: 202-580-8196