Improving data collection on the deployment and use of communications infrastructure
Measuring Broadband: Improving Communications Policymaking through Better Data Collection
Kenneth Flamm, Amy Friedlander, John Horrigan, and William Lehr
A report of workshop co-sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, University of Texas at Austin, with support from the National Science Foundation, and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Convened on June 28, 2006
The Pew Research Center
November 2007
Questions of vital importance to understanding the information society are difficult to address
because of poor data.
- Do places with more widely available or higher quality information infrastructure
perform better economically than those without? - Does new investment in broadband connections have economic or social payoffs for
communities? - Are civic institutions healthier in broadband rich areas – or not?
- What portion of the lag in home broadband adoption in rural America is attributable to
lack of available infrastructure? - Do those with “second generation broadband,” such as those with fiber to the home,
behave differently online than those with “first generation” broadband such as DSL or
cable modems? - How should we account for the impact of advanced information networks in measures of
productivity and other economic activity?
Imperfect or absent data are are rarely mentioned in policy discussions. Yet the communications
policy debate in the United States today is inseparable from debates about the data used to make
claims about policy propositions. President Bush articulated in 2004 a goal to have universal and affordable broadband available in the United States by 2007. The way data are collected by government agencies cannot answer questions about whether that goal has been met or not.
International organizations – using the imperfect data – report that the United States’ ranking in per capita broadband adoption is lower today than it was a few years ago. This paper argues that the country cannot properly gauge its own progress or know how dire America’s international
standing is without good data about broadband adoption, deployment, price, and quality.
In June 2006, researchers from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the University of
Texas at Austin, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology convened a workshop of likeminded
specialists from government, academia, and industry to discuss challenges involving the
state of data collection about the deployment and use of communications infrastructure. The
workshop’s wide-ranging discussions yielded the following recommendations on the principles
that should guide efforts to improve data collection on the deployment and use of
communications infrastructure.
- Collection of data should be at a sufficiently fine-grained level to permit regional
analysis of the impacts of communication technology. Nearly all publicly available
data on adoption of communications goods and services are gathered at the national level.
More granular data – about adoption patterns among individuals and businesses at the
local or regional level – would permit more rigorous analysis of the impacts of
information and communications technology on economies and communities. Such data
should capture the price users pay for service. With such data, policy makers and
researchers would be better able to determine the expected payoffs from encouraging
broadband deployment and adoption. - The United States should be able to produce a map showing the availability of infrastructure in the country. The current methods of tracking the availability of highspeed infrastructure relies on providers reporting by 5 digit zip code where they offer service. A provider with one customer in a zip code can report that it provides service in the zip code, which may misleadingly suggest that the entire zip code can get service. Understanding where infrastructure is available is critical for understanding what kind of choices consumers have for service. Workshop participants argued thaqt efforts to improve mapping of infrastructure must be accompanied by the Federal Communications Commission updating the definition of broadband to reflect advances in the nation’s information infrastructure. The current decade-old definition of 200 kilobits per second for broadband is widely viewed as outdated.
- Academic researchers, non-profit organizations, the government, and the private
sector must work collaboratively to gather data that permits assessment of quality
of service and the user experience. The type of internet experience the end-user has at
the desktop depends on “last mile” infrastructure availability, users’ awareness of it, and
capacity to securely and skillfully take advantage of online connections. Assessing
quality of service depends, in part, on computer scientists measuring online data traffic.
These online metrics have become more difficult to acquire since the internet backbone
was privatized, yet they remain important to properly maintaining an increasingly vital
part of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Understanding the user experience also requires
social science research into the community and cultural contexts of technology adoption
and use.
The 2006 workshop was motivated by the desire of researchers to have better data with which
to study the social, economic, and policy consequences of dissemination of information and
communications technologies. At the same time, workshop participants recognized the
sensitivity endemic in collecting data on commercial activity. Companies understandably do
not want to make available to the public data that might reveal proprietary or strategically
important information.
Yet the rewards from confronting those challenges and improving data collection are great.
Policymakers would have a better understanding of the social and economic consequences of
investments in communication infrastructure they may have under consideration. Economists
in the public and private sector could better understand how new information and
communication technology affect productivity. And with a clearer understanding of user
behavior, planners in government agencies at the state, local, and federal level could more
effectively design electronic service delivery applications for citizens.
Since the workshop, both the U.S. House of Representative and the Senate have held hearings
on bills designed to improve data collection on broadband infrastructure. These bills represent
valuable first steps in addressing this issue. Continued dialogue between researchers and
policymakers is needed to develop data collection practices in the United States that will
allow for informed deliberations on communications policy.