Yesterday the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation authored by Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) aimed at providing better broadband penetration data. The bill (H.R. 3919) will create a national, searchable map that's easily accessible to consumers (in contrast to current FCC data). It will also authorize the issuing of grants to help bring service to under-served regions.

As we've mentioned previously, this bill has been watered down as it winds its way through DC. Originally, it was supposed to raise the FCC's definition of broadband from 256kbps to 2Mbps, a provision that was subsequently stripped to gain bipartisan approval. The bill still, however, would finally do away with the FCC's inadequate data collection methods. From a statement on Markey's website:It's nearly 2008, and we've just discovered (assuming the bill even passes) that actually knowing who has broadband might be a good first step in creating broadband policy.