said by sonicmerlin:From stopthecap:
The history of this group has demonstrated it has an interest in keeping specifics to a minimum, and inflating broadband penetration levels into the stratosphere. As Broadband Reports wrote, a perfect example is in the state of Kentucky. When independent mapping was completed, it exposed Kentucky had a problem — just 60% of the state had broadband available. Those low numbers might prompt a review of why incumbent telecom companies are not spending some money to wire their less urban customers for service. But with the magic of Connect Kentucky, a sort of regional chapter of Connected Nation, that number jumped to 95% in just five years in a study called dubious, if not outright “methodological malpractice” by Consumers Union.
In North Carolina, the dispute is being played out in a most public way, as Connected Nation, at the behest of a powerful state legislator, has set up a parallel mapping operation to that of the e-NC Authority, a state agency that has been working since 2001 to bring Internet connectivity to rural areas through mapping and through public-private partnerships with telephone companies. While normally Connected Nation can charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for mapping, it is doing the North Carolina map at no cost to the state after a move by the chairman of e-NC’s board to have that organization pay for part of the industry mapping cost failed.
As with all of its mapping, e-NC depends on information from incumbent providers. Through last year and this there was a struggle more prolonged than usual, and the end result was a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that greatly restricted what the e-NC maps would be able to show.
That is excellent news. I can't wait for Connected Nation's results to come out so we can compare them to e-NC's. Although I find it a bit ironic that e-NC, a governmental agency, can't release their data because of NDA's but everyone is clamoring for Connected Nation to release theirs.
