Data & Mapping

Sixteenth Broadband Deployment Report Notice of Inquiry

The Federal Communications Commission begins its latest annual statutorily-mandated assessment of its progress in closing the digital divide. In the 2020 Broadband Deployment Report, the FCC concluded that for the third consecutive year such advanced telecommunications capabilities are being timely deployed. While the 2020 Report acknowledged there is still work to be done to fully close the digital divide, more Americans than ever before now have access to the benefits of broadband as the FCC’s policies have created a regulatory environment to stimulate broadband investment and deployment.

Ahead of New School Year, California Schools Receive Critical Funds to Support Distance Learning and Governor Newsom Signs Executive Order Directing State Agencies to Bridge Digital Divide

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced that every eligible local educational agency in California has applied for and is receiving a portion of the $5.3 billion in learning loss mitigation funds secured through the state budget he signed in June. The Governor also signed an executive order directing state agencies across government to bridge the digital divide, building on the state’s efforts to provide computing devices and hotspots to students across the state. The order directs agencies to pursue a goal of 100 Mbps download speed.

What Should We Ask in our Next Internet Use Survey?

In anticipation of conducting future Internet Use Surveys, NTIA is seeking recommendations from the public about how we can improve our survey and make it as relevant as possible. Are there questions we previously asked that should be changed or deleted? Are there any questions that we should be adding?

Illinois Addresses the Digital Divide

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed many hard truths, and one of them is our nation’s digital divide. In Illinois, the Office of Broadband, through its Connect Illinois broadband program, is working to ensure broadband use by everyone in the state.

About 1,245,000 Added Broadband in 2Q 2020

The largest cable and telephone providers in the US – representing about 96% of the market – acquired about 1,245,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2020, compared to a pro forma gain of about 375,000 subscribers in 2Q 2019. These top broadband providers now account for about 103.3 million subscribers, with top cable companies having 70.6 million broadband subscribers, and top wireline phone companies having 32.7 million subscribers. The top cable companies added about 1,400,000 subscribers in 2Q 2020. The top wireline phone companies had a net loss o

Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom

The 2020 edition of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom report analyzes the latest data available from the Federal Communications Commission to investigate broadband competition in communities across the country. Thanks largely to the power of monopoly corporations like Comcast, Charter, and AT&T, millions of Americans still do not have a real choice when it comes to their Internet service.

Time to Stop Talking About Unserved and Underserved

I work with communities all of the time that want to know if they are unserved or underserved by broadband. I've started to tell them to toss away those two terms, which is not a good way to think about broadband today. The main reason to scrap these terms is that they convey the idea that 25/3 Mbps broadband ought to be an acceptable target speed for building new broadband. Urban America has moved far beyond the kinds of broadband speeds that are being discussed as acceptable for rural broadband. Cable companies now have minimum speeds that vary between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps.

How States Use Broadband Surveys to Fight for Better Funding

Three states have recently kickstarted their own broadband surveys — Washington, North Carolina and Alabama.

FCC Announces New Version Of FCC Speed Test App And Release Of Updated Mobile Raw Data

The Federal Communications Commission released an updated version of its FCC Speed Test app to evaluate how well customers' mobile broadband connections are performing. This app, available from the Apple App Store and Google Play, has been updated to work the with latest versions of the iOS and Android operating systems. Like its predecessor, the updated app allows users to test their cellular and Wi-Fi network performance for download and upload speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss.

Washington State Broadband Office Seeks Help for Broadband Mapping

The Washington State Broadband Office and state Public Works Board have launched a mapping initiative to identify gaps in high-speed internet service and areas of broadband infrastructure needs in order to advance the state’s goal to have universal broadband access in Washington by 2024. Those with no internet access at their homes are encouraged to visit a local library or drive-in hotspot in their community, or use their mobile device to take the survey and check the “no available service” button to record their physical address.

Internet access is a right for every student

School closures in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak revealed a difficult truth: The digital divide is real, and it is deep. And the tools we have available to bridge it are insufficient. To prioritize where broadband deployment funding can do the most good, we need to know where the gaps in service exist.  The second problem is one of access. Too many households simply cannot afford the monthly cost of broadband even if the infrastructure exists to provide it in their homes.

Broadband Maps Are Just One Step Toward Closing the Digital Divide

Before you solve a problem, you’ve got to be able to understand it. The Federal Communications Commission recently voted to deepen its understanding of the digital divide by making several improvements to its broadband maps, as required by the Broadband DATA Act. The agency’s goal is to ensure that its maps showing where broadband is and isn’t available are more accurate and more granular.

New Broadband Maps Are Coming. They’ll Be Useless Unless We Also Invest in Research and Analytical Capacity.

New, more accurate and detailed broadband maps are on their way. The telecom policy crowd fervently hopes the data upgrade will help us better address digital divides and other issues. But maps and data alone won’t solve anything. Skill, expertise and time will all be required to study and use the new maps, and the resources required grow as the datasets become larger and more complex.

Broadband Costs Too Much

The Open Technology Institute's latest study of the price of internet service, The Cost of Connectivity 2020, finds substantial evidence of an affordability crisis in the United States. From service plans that meet the current Federal Communications Commission definition for broadband at 25/3 Mbps to bigger, bolder standards, U.S. consumers pay more for monthly internet prices on average than European consumers based on advertised metrics. And, perhaps just as importantly, U.S.

Bridging the digital divide through digital equity offices

The American economy continues to digitalize at an astounding pace, but tens of millions of American households cannot access the digital economy due to physical gaps in local broadband networks, unaffordable subscription plans and personal devices, and a lack of digital skills. Digital equity offices would aim to address these structural barriers and ensure the digital economy reaches all local households.

Committee Approves Bills, Nominations

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a number of bills and nominations including the following:

The American Federal Definition of Broadband Is Both Useless and Harmful

Definitions matter. Especially when those definitions come from the federal government. In the case of “broadband,” the definition set by the federal government creates our standard of Internet living. Depressingly, the American government’s definition means broadband providers get away with offering very poor levels of “broadband.” Today, that metric is 25 megabits per second download (25 Mbps) and three megabits per second (3 Mbps) upload.

Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative Successfully Utilizes Data for Effective Decision Making

On June 30, the issues of our statewide digital divide were illustrated with the release of the Georgia Broadband Availability map. This mapping initiative is a key component of our strategic purpose. Our ongoing partnership with the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) and Carl Vinson Institute of Government affords us the opportunity to illustrate statewide challenges to internet access and provide key stakeholders a tool with enhanced precision to make data-driven decisions. This tool, the first of its kind, reflects more than 5 million locations in all 159 counties.

FCC Improves Broadband Data and Maps to Bridge the Digital Divide

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules for the improved collection and mapping of broadband availability data through the Digital Opportunity Data Collection that will better identify connectivity gaps across the country and help advance the FCC’s ongoing efforts to close the digital divide. The FCC is also seeking comment on proposals to ensure the accuracy of the new broadband coverage maps by creating multiple paths for consumers, along with state, local, and Tribal governments and other entities, to provide feedback on the maps directly to the FCC.

National Broadband Availability Map Reaches 20-State Milestone

NTIA’s National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) reached a 20 state milestone with the addition of Wyoming and Washington State. The NBAM is a geographic information system platform which allows for the visualization and analysis of federal, state, and commercially available data sets. This includes data from the Federal Communications Commission, US Census Bureau, Universal Service Administrative Company, US Department of Agriculture, Ookla, Measurement Lab, and the state governments.

Chairman Doyle: Broadband Providers Keep Claiming Service Where It Isn't

 House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said that a lot of broadband internet access service providers, "for whatever reason," claim they have service where they don't, something he said everyone knows "has been going on for years." He said that since Democrats and Republicans agree that broadband maps aren't good, the Federal Communications Commission would just be throwing $20 million out the window by starting to give out most of the Rural Development Opportunities Fund (RDOF) subsidy money.

FCC to Hold Open Commission Meeting July 16, 2020

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and related agency telework and headquarters access policies, this meeting will be in a wholly electronic format and will be open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

Georgia Launches Broadband Availability Map

Georgia’s Broadband Availability Map is a new tool that will bring more transparency about the internet marketplace and clarify which Georgia households do not have access to high-speed internet.

Chairman Pai's Response to Senators Regarding Maintaining Connectivity During COVID-19 Pandemic

On April 24, Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, saying, "We must coordinate the voluntary efforts of broadband service providers with the targeted investments of federal, state, and local governments to ensure that efforts are focused on those who need our help the most." They urged Chairman Pai to work with the companies that stepped up to take the Keep Americans Connected Pledge to provide a comprehensive report on the distribution of hotspots by April 27th so we can understand where hotspots have been deployed