S. 1492 Broadband Data Improvement Act

(from Sen Inouye's press release)

On May 24, 2007, Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), with the cosponsorship of Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), introduced the Broadband Data Improvement Act (S. 1492) which seeks to improve the quality of federal broadband data collection and encourages state initiatives that promote broadband deployment.

The Broadband Data Improvement Act specifically would:

• Direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reevaluate its current 200 kilobit broadband standard. It also would require the FCC to create a new metric known as “second generation broadband” to be used to reflect network connections capable of reliably transmitting high-definition video content.
• Direct broadband providers to report broadband availability and second generation broadband connections within 9-digit zip code areas.
• Direct the FCC to conduct inquiries into the deployment of advanced telecommunications services on an annual, rather than periodic, basis.

• Direct the Census Bureau to include a question in its American Community Survey that assesses levels of residential computer use and dial-up versus broadband Internet subscribership.
• Direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to develop broadband metrics that may be used to provide consumers with broadband connection cost and capability information and improve the process of comparing the deployment and penetration of broadband in the United States with other countries.
• Direct the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to conduct a study evaluating the impact of broadband speed and price on small businesses.
• Authorize a 5-year, $40 million per year program that would provide matching grants to State non-profit, public-private partnerships in support of efforts to more accurately identify barriers to broadband adoption throughout the State.