Thursday, May 1st, 2008
What is BroadbandCensus.com?
BroadbandCensus.com is a new Web service that provides you, the consumer, with FREE information about broadband availability, competition, speeds and services in your local area. Type in your ZIP code, and immediately see the number of high-speed Internet companies that serve your ZIP code, and which of them BroadbandCensus.com has been able to identify.
You'll see how other users rate their carriers, and actual download and upload speeds. You can see consumer comments in your area, and add your own. Or, you can look at all comments, ratings and speed tests for a particular company.
For my ZIP code, the site says, "The government says you have a total of 15 broadband services. The broadband census has found 1 broadband service(s)." What's the reason for the discrepancy?
BroadbandCensus.com exists to collect and publish better data about broadband. The Federal Communications Commission collects the names of broadband carriers by ZIP code. The agency discloses the number of carriers, but refuses to release their names. BroadbandCensus.com is an attempt to go around the government and the carriers and use "crowdsourcing" to collect data directly from you, the consumer.
Why won't the FCC release the data?
The FCC claims that disclosing the ZIP codes in which...
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