Broadband Census Launches BroadbandBreakfast.com for News; Keeps BroadbandCensus.com For Public and Transparent Data Collection

WASHINGTON, November 19, 2009 – Today, Broadband Census News launches BroadbandBreakfast.com, a new daily web site with definitive and independent news on broadband stimulus funding, wireless internet, and the national broadband plan.

This new domain, BroadbandBreakfast.com, will be used for the journalistic operations of Broadband Census News LLC — our company’s news subsidiary — and will cover broadband technology and internet policy. Our reporters are passionate about broadband, and we aim to maintain our focus on core issues of broadband technology and internet policy.

Meanwhile, the web site BroadbandCensus.com has been relaunched for the purposes of Broadband Census Data LLC: ensuring that the public has free and transparent access to basic and granular broadband information about broadband Speeds, Prices, Availability, Reliability and Competition.

Going Forward with Broadband News AND Data

In previous entries in this series of five blog posts, I’ve highlighted the history of BroadbandCensus.com. We’ve been leading the charge for public and transparent broadband data for more than three years. In that time, much has changed about the opportunity that we face, and our country faces, in bringing better broadband data to consumers, and to policy-makers.

I’ve highlighted the history of BroadbandCensus.com’s efforts to start the ball rolling on crowdsourcing broadband data, as well as on uniting scholars and state officials through the “Broadband Census for America” conference that we hosted  on the eve of the passage of the Broadband Data Improvement Act, in September 2008.

On October 30, 2009, I highlighted the major changes that 2009 brought to BroadbandCensus.com – particularly on our data side, as we created a pilot map showcasing public and transparent data collection in Columbia, South Carolina. Broadband Census Data also submitted an application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, jointly with Virginia Tech’s eCorridors Program, seeking to collect real-time broadband data from libraries and public computing centers.

I also addressed the role that BroadbandCensus.com played in promoting national standards for the public and transparent collection of broadband data, such as in the U.S. Broadband Coalition, and at the 2009 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference.

BroadbandBreakfast.com: The Independent Source for Broadband News

As of today, all of our news reporting, and expert commentary, will be conducted on BroadbandBreakfast.com. Our team deciphers the jargon and obfuscation frequently surrounding industry-led broadband discussions.

With the FCC embarking on an expansive broadband quest, with its major inquiry into wireless competition, and with countless questions about the broadband stimulus program still unanswered, there’s never been a better time for authentic and independent news coverage of these subjects.

In our news judgment and coverage, BroadbandBreakfast.com is committed to steering clear of advocacy. On hot button issues like network neutrality, for example, BroadbandBreakfast.com doesn’t take sides. Rather, we expose the arguments of both telecom titans and internet giants, critically questioning the claims of both sides.

We’ve also created an “Expert Opinion” section – think of it as an op-ed page – on which we will solicit and post commentary from a wide range of broadband policy experts.

The Creative Commons Commitment of BroadbandCensus.com

One important change with the launch of BroadbandBreakfast.com is that our news content is now subject to copyright by Broadband Census News LLC. BroadbandBreakfast.com will continue to publish daily news, for free. We will also increase the depth and detail of our Premium Content selections. We invite you, our readers, to subscribe to this Premium Content service. If you have feedback on our coverage or approach to the news, please contact us, at feedback@broadbandcensus.com.

It’s important to highlight that we remain committed to ensuring that all content remaining on BroadbandCensus.com, including our core effort to collect and publish basic broadband data, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License.

This license means that all the contents of the BroadbandCensus.com web site are available, for free, to view, copy, redistribute and reuse – provided that attribution is made to BroadbandCensus.com, and that such use is done for non-commercial purposes.

This is more than just legalese. It means that federal, state and local government agencies, as well as university researchers, may benefit from our platform showcasing publicly available broadband data. State, county and regional development agencies, for example, may republish our data-sets free of charge on their own web sites, providing that they attribute them to BroadbandCensus.com.

We’re excited as we embark on the next phase of operations as a news AND data provider. We look forward to working with you as broadband policy and internet technology takes its next step forward!