What You Need To Know About The National Broadband Plan → Re: Dearth?

One, using prequal tools zip code by zip code is technically cumbersome and impractical, so the government has turned to getting this data directly from carriers -- but this data has not been independently verified, and what data exists carriers won't let the FCC share with the public or independent auditors.

Two, the advertised price is never the actual price, and hitting site prequal tools doesn't tell you what people are paying by zip after you've factored in below the line fees, charges, or bundle discounts (or penalties, depending how you look at it).

Then certainly the first thing this "plan" should have tackled was to make sure ISPs release independently verified data at least annually. That would have gone a lot further than adding another speed test to the thousands out there today. Data warehouses are not new, so why can't our government make sure that data is available about our connections?

I agree completely. The problem is that the carriers control policy, and have worked very hard to fight any public release of raw data on speed and penetration in court.