Editor's Note: Around the time of Presidents' Day eight years ago, I wrote this piece about the connection between Abraham Lincoln's passion for infrastructure improvements and his belief in equal opportunity. I linked it to the then pressing - and still pressing - need for infrastructure improvements in Rural America. On Abraham Lincoln's 210th birthday… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2018 – Many in the broadband industry commenting on broadband availability data exposed the weaknesses of current Federal Communications Commission data – and not only in the data itself but in the process by which it is collected. The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications Industry Association conducted a request for comments on actions… Keep Reading
PITTSBURGH, July 31, 2018 - Rural electric cooperatives and not “small cell” deployment powered by 5G networks, may be the solution to closing the digital divide, according to Jonathan Chambers, former chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Strategic Planning. Speaking at the regional conference hosted last week here by Next Century Cities, a… Keep Reading
SPRINGFIELD, February 21, 2011 - President Abraham Lincoln began his political career here with a passionate interest in infrastructure improvements. America knows President Lincoln today because his belief in equal opportunity. What connects that which we know about Lincoln and that which brought him into public life? Keep Reading
Twenty-five years ago, the World Wide Web did not exist. Very few Americans had even seen a mobile phone, and broadband networks were available only to a few businesses and research institutions. Today, innovations such as broadband and others like it drive the creation of a wide variety of products and services. The competitive forces that sparked these breakthroughs need to be nurtured so that the United States can continue to reap the benefits of its unrivaled culture of innovation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 11, 2010 - Broadband Census News LLC on Thursday released, for FREE, the full-length video of the Broadband Breakfast Club event on February 9, 2010: "Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Collecting and Using Broadband Data." Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 10, 2010 – The head of the Federal Communications Commission’s internal “think tank” said Tuesday that the agency was taking a fresh look at all aspects of its broadband data-collection processes: collection, validation and analysis, and dissemination. Speaking to a roomful of panelists and telecom officials who attended Tuesday’s Broadband Breakfast Club in spite of the snow, Office of Strategic Planning Chief Paul de Sa said that the agency was sensitive to the need to balance proprietary information with the desire for transparency in its data-collection processes. In a keynote on the topic of “Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Collecting and Using Broadband Data,” de Sa began by asking questions that frame the work of the agency on broadband data. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 2, 2010 - A cast of key experts on the issue of collecting and using broadband data -including two key officials at the Federal Communications Commission, plus a former agency chief economist - have confirmed their participation in the Broadband Breakfast Club on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The event is titled "Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Collecting and Using Broadband Data," and will be keynoted by Paul de Sa, Chief of Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis at the FCC. The division is widely regarded as the agency's internal "think tank" on dealing with forward-looking issues, particularly broadband.
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WASHINGTON, January 11, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched http://reboot.fcc.gov, a new interactive website attempting to foster public discussion on how to best improve the agency. The site includes many opportunities for public input on a variety of facets of FCC operations, including greater release of FCC data, the development of new systems such a the “Consolidated Licensing System,” and the redesign of the main agency website, http://FCC.gov. Keep Reading
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. Keep Reading
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. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 30, 2009 - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration last week asked the Federal Communications Commission to release a key database of information about broadband deployment assembled from providers of high-speed internet access. In a public notice dated Wednesday, November 25, the FCC said it intended to release this database -- the Form 477 database -- to the NTIA unless it received opposition from the carriers who have provided the broadband data by December 7, 2009. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 19, 2009 - The Government Accountability Office on Monday released a report analyzing the possible challenges faced by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utility Service when they implement the broadband stimulus. The largest problem that the GAO saw was that after 2010, both agencies will no longer have any funding to provide oversight to projects. Additionally, they currently lack enough staff to properly provide oversight. In the 2010 budget request to Congress, NTIA asked for an additional 40 full-time employees; RUS asked for 47 Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 11, 2009 – Current measures of broadband comparisons between the United States and the rest of the world – and within the country – have limitations, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office released on Friday. These limitations including the “lack of comprehensive measures from the government to compare price, actual delivered speeds, and service reliability data from providers,” and information that was gathered through international broadband comparisons that are not comparable across countries. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 29, 2009 - Current broadband mapping data is not specific enough in detail to help the Federal Communications Commission produce a national broadband plan, despite recent revisions to agency data-collection practices, staff members said Tuesday. Keep Reading
ARLINGTON, Va., September 28, 2009 – “Beer and Broadband Mapping” was the informal name appended to a spirited and lively discussion that capped the first day of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference here at George Mason School of Law on Friday, September 25. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 22, 2009 – Public and transparent broadband data has now been elevated to the level of a fundamental principle, at least in the Monday speech by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. But it’s worth reflecting on the time – not so long ago – when the quest to collect this kind of broadband data was an unrealized vision at the losing end of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 21, 2009 – Broadband data is important for the future of our country – and public and transparent broadband data is even more important. Today, at this moment, the new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is making a speech in which he is highlighting the vital principle of public and transparent broadband data. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 3, 2009 – Less than two weeks remain before the first round of applications are due in the federal government’s broadband stimulus grants. The key issues facing the government can be summed up in three words: data, data and data. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2009 - In comments filed before the Federal Communications Commission, BroadbandCensus.com said that basic broadband data -- information about the speeds, prices, availability, reliability and competition of local service -- is not proprietary and should be part of a public and transparent national broadband database. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 19 - BroadbandCensus.com is pleased to support One Web Day on September 22, 2008. We join with One Web Day in helping you learn about your internet options and take the broadband census. Doing so will allow all of us to better understand the true state of broadband competition in our communities, our states, our country and our world. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 8 - Data about the names of broadband carriers and the locations in which they offer services, by ZIP code, is not confidential information. Data about the number of subscribers that carriers have in a particular ZIP code may well be confidential. Keep Reading