Monday, December 7th, 2009
WASHINGTON, December 7, 2009 - A new
report using an innovative approach to broadband data finds that the percentage of households in the United States that have adopted high-speed internet services is 72.9 percent.
The report was generated by comparing the Census blocks in which broadband is available with the number of subscribers that carriers report to the Federal Communications Commission.
By linking the number of subscribers in a particular state (from FCC data) to a data-set of Census block-by-Census block tabulations of broadband availability, consultant Brian Webster believes that he is able to peg the nation-wide broadband adoption rate for homes passed at 72.9 percent.
That number is about 10 percentage points higher than what other studies have found. That's not surprising - precisely because he is attempting to count adoption of homes passed, and not of the population as a whole.
“That’s a difference that could have a significant impact on the decisions made to deploy broadband in the remaining un-served markets,” says Webster.
One other facet to the data used in the report: the FCC data used in the report also includes mobile broadband counts, in addition to wireline broadband counts. Because a home could have two or more broadband...
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Monday, November 30th, 2009
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 30, 2009 -
The news that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration aims to seek access to the Form 477 database is positive news -- providing that the public obtains access to the database, too.
Even before the founding of BroadbandCensus.com more than two years ago, the individuals associated with the data side of BroadbandCensus.com have been urging the public disclosure of basic broadband data. We call this the Broadband SPARC: for Speeds, Prices, Availability, Reliability and Competition.
In comments
in July 2008, BroadbandCensus.com urged greater disclosure of this data.
We repeated these comments, adding a new twist - that a National Broadband Plan must be accompanied by a National Broadband Mashup -
in June 2009.
As readers of BroadbandBreakfast.com are aware, Broadband Census LLC has recently split our operations between our news and events, which we publish on BroadbandBreakfast.com, and our data operations, which continues on BroadbandCensus.com.
BroadbandBreakfast.com continues our tradition of reliable news reporting, as BroadbandCensus.com continues to urge disclosure and - through our mapping from publicly-available sources - create the best possible database of broadband speeds, prices, availability, reliability and competition.
The news of the NTIA's interest in the Form 477...
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Friday, September 11th, 2009
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, September 11, 2009 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration late Wednesday released the names of all 2,200 applicants for broadband stimulus grants through an interactive and searchable database at the
broadbandusa.gov web portal during the first round of the broadband stimulus applications.
In testimony to Congress on Thursday, Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary of NTIA, said that the agency was likely to seek to consolidate the planned rounds two and three of the broadband grant process into a single additional round. The broadband stimulus program is being run by the NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service of the the Agriculture Department.
Also, late Wednesday the NTIA released the names of the entities within all 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia that had been awarded broadband data and mapping grants.
Previously, there had been some question about whether all states would indeed submit applications for broadband data.
“We are pleased with the unanimous response, which underscores the value of this program,” Strickling said in a statement, speaking about the broadband data grants.
The data grants totaled $100 million, or significantly less than the $240 million that had been designated for the program by the NTIA. The...
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Friday, July 18th, 2008
Regulatory Filing
Editor's Note: The following is the regulatory filing made by BroadbandCensus.com in the Federal Communications Commission's inquiry about how to best map out information about local broadband. Footnotes are available in the PDF version of file. (The link is at bottom.)
By Drew Clark, Executive Director, BroadbandCensus.com
COMMENTS OF BROADBANDCENSUS.COM IN RESPONSE TO THE FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
I. INTRODUCTION
BroadbandCensus.com respectfully submits these comments in response to the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Further Notice”)1, released June 12, 2008, in the above-captioned proceeding of the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”). We respond to the invitation for comment on Section IV(B) of the Further Notice.2
BroadbandCensus.com is a new, free web service that allows the public to share and learn information about where individual broadband companies provide service. In taking the Broadband Census, consumers enter their ZIP+4 codes, identify their carriers, rate their services and conduct a free broadband speed test. Doing so enables them to compare their actual internet speeds against what their carriers promise.3 They are also invited to make comments, which are posted on the web site of BroadbandCensus.com, about the service quality of their broadband provider.
BroadbandCensus.com is a consumer-focused service with an aim to better inform the public and policy-makers...
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