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Meet The United States' First Ever Broadband Map
$300 Million Gets You A Beta Map That Omits Price, Real Speed

The United States' first ever national broadband map went live today at this website address, after the American Recover and Reinvestment Act set aside $293 million to engage in a national broadband mapping project. As we noted last week folks shouldn't get their hopes too high for the project, after the nation's largest ISPs worked overtime to ensure much of the data collected with your $300 million won't be available to the public -- and won't include things like broadband price or real-world speed performance. That's not to say the new map won't be useful, given it's (maybe) a step forward from what government previously used to inform broadband policy: nothing.

Click for full size
The NTIA today announcing the map and database will allow users to search more than 25 million records for broadband availability, what type of broadband is available, the maximum advertised speeds available, and the names of the service providers. According to the NTIA, the data will be updated every six months by the fifty-six different state organizations paid to collect the information.

Perhaps your results will be different, but our first impressions were very beta and not particularly positive, especially considering the $200 million every five years this project is supposed to cost.

Plugging in one zip code we know has the option of Verizon FiOS or Comcast DOCSIS 3.0 service informed us the only choices were Verizon DSL or AT&T DSL (despite the fact the latter company doesn't service this particular county). Another zip code where we know Verizon DSL is the only option showed a choice of three providers, including Frontier, who again doesn't serve the market we selected. The map also seems to hallucinate network upgrades that don't exist, suggesting several companies offer next-gen bandwidth in markets they've yet to upgrade (Frontier, Time Warner Cable stand out), while over-stating the speed capabilities of last-gen DSL.

The one thing any broadband map should quickly highlight is a lack of competition, and this one doesn't do that very well. The NTIA press release announcing the map mentions the word once -- and only fleetingly. During a presentation to the press, the NTIA's Larry Strickling insisted that the reason they don't track pricing (which would help greatly in noting competitive gaps) was because prices changed too frequently to track. In reality, the NTIA buckled to carrier demands in 2009 (pdf) that this data not be revealed. In fact, cable and phone companies have fought tooth and nail for years against real data disclosure, and our first ever broadband map (and consumer education) clearly suffers for it.

The NTIA did however highlight a few other shortcomings illuminated by the data -- specifically the fact that anchor institutions (libraries, schools) are woefully underserved despite the billions poured into the USF to connect them. That isn't news -- since the American Library Association noted the same thing last year. Whereas studies show most schools need roughly 50-100 Mbps per 1,000 students, the NTIA says only two-thirds of surveyed schools subscribe to speeds lower than 25 Mbps. 4% of libraries see speeds greater than 25 Mbps.

On the wireless front, the data suggests that 36% of Americans can get wireless (fixed, mobile, licensed, and unlicensed) broadband "at maximum advertised download speeds" of 6 Mbps or greater. About 95% of Americans have access to wireless broadband at at least 768kbps, which the NTIA notes "corresponds roughly to '3G' wireless service." As we've been discussing, the Obama administration is promising "4G" for 98% of the public, though the promise rings hollow when you consider the murky definition of 4G and the fact this goal will probably be achieved without government help.

"A state-of-the-art communications infrastructure is essential to America’s competitiveness in the global digital economy," said Acting Commerce Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank said in a statement. "But as Congress recognized, we need better data on America’s broadband Internet capabilities in order to improve them."

Great, except that without real performance speed and price information and frequently wrong ISP and speed data, it's impossible to actually recognize the lack of competition in the sector, or the fact this lack of competition leads to stalled upgrades and sky high prices. The NTIA's map could have been a step in the right direction, but the agency's buckling to incumbent ISP interests when it comes to releasing full and comprehensive data is symptomatic of a government that really doesn't want to risk carrier campaign cash and actually improve competition. Still, the map is worth keeping an eye on, and we'll hope for improvement in future iterations -- which hopefully avoid imaginary ISPs and hallucinated speeds.
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R4M0N
Brazilian Soccer Ownz Joo
join:2000-10-04
Glen Allen, VA

R4M0N

Member

So let me get this straight...

We should be happy that the government wasted $300 million on next to nothing because before we had nothing?

Can't wait to see what we will get with a couple hundred million more thrown in for good measure... I'm ecstatic.

hurfy
Premium Member
join:2002-08-06
Spokane, WA

hurfy

Premium Member

Re: So let me get this straight...

Ignore the instructions, ZIP CODE is worthless. Use zip to get map and zoom to your block. It seemed to plot my zip in the middle of the river by default making wired connections problematic

I appears correct for the MAX speeds like it says. I suppose someone in the area MAY actually pay for those speeds. Even so far as showing different speed available with QWEST 2 blocks away. (office could get 40M, house can't altho the fiber seems to be laid less than 100ft away) It does match with what was offered.

I think the comcast is correct also as for what is 'offered'. Can't imagine may here affording 50-100M but i think it is offered even if is more than the house payment

Of course the wireless speeds are wildly optimistic...OOPS, there's that MAX advertised qualifier again.

And it clearly tells us NOTHING about what people HAVE!

Again, be sure and try it at block or address level. The zip code level is pretty useless (for wired)

ForPetesSake

Anon

I want my money back

It doesn't work with Google Chrome! No map just a blank window.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: I want my money back

Seems ok with Chrome here. Site is getting hammered at the moment though, so you may have to wait.

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

1 edit

AMDUSER

Premium Member

Re: I want my money back

Click for full size
.
Their map is inaccurate....Time Warner Cable does not offer 10 Meg in this area [except for business class]... it does not list the 7 Meg / 512 k that is available.

The data on AT&T listed is also inaccurate... it should be 3 Meg DSL... upto 24 Meg [U-Verse].

-
I checked my address on the website, it says I can get upto 24 Meg [VDSL] from AT&T... which is not possible, as U-Verse is not available on my half of the neighborhood. It also don't show that I can only get upto 3 Meg DSL at my address.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: I want my money back

Too funny.
It doesn't even list any DSL in my area if I put in a zip, but there's both ADSL and Uverse

Maybe at the time it was a required bundle (POTS or TV) and didn't make the grade.

KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium Member
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD

KoolMoe to AMDUSER

Premium Member

to AMDUSER
I played a little and didn't see a way to add user data. It may be completely inaccurate now but if everyone here could map their actual provider and speeds, it would get a lot more accurate quickly. I wonder if the raw data is available and could be mashed into a Google Maps site like DSLR has here...
KM

cypherstream
MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
·PenTeleData
ARRIS SB8200

cypherstream to AMDUSER

MVM

to AMDUSER
Yeah it's inaccurate for my zip too.

It says Verizon aDSL does 50 - 100 Mbps download and 10 - 25 Mbps up. What a crock of shit! They only offer 3mbps/768k, and there's no fios.

Also for Service Electric, it says downloads from 10 - 25 Mbps. That's wrong too, the highest speed is 15/2

For Comcast it says downloads are:
Between 50 - 100 Mbps using Cable (DOCSIS 3.0)
It should say that downloads are:
Between 12 - 105 Mbps using Cable (DOCSIS 3.0)

Also the sites's SLOW!

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5 to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode
said by Karl Bode:

Seems ok with Chrome here. Site is getting hammered at the moment though, so you may have to wait.

It works for me with Firefox, Chrome, & IE8. But it is
S L O W !!! Fastest way is to just input a zip code. Browsing the map by zooming in and out is intolerably slow.

P.S.>> It was working. Now, not so much. Site must be another of these where they rolled it out without enough capacity to handle many users at once.

dslwanter
20 years on this site
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Mineral Ridge, OH

dslwanter

Premium Member

Re: I want my money back

It's painfully slow. Striking a deal with Google maps and having an overlay would have been much better.

cruz1
@sbcglobal.net

cruz1 to ForPetesSake

Anon

to ForPetesSake
Chrome support was an extra 100 million! :P

derekm
join:2008-02-26

derekm

Member

Re: I want my money back

said by cruz1 :

Chrome support was an extra 100 million! :P

More likely IE support added cost.

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY

Smith6612 to ForPetesSake

MVM

to ForPetesSake
I had an initial problem getting it to load in Firefox 4 Beta 11. All it needed was a reload and the map worked.

TSWYO
Premium Member
join:2003-05-03
Cheyenne, WY

TSWYO

Premium Member

Its missing a crap ton!

Qwest, Bresnan, and Verizon (wired) throughout Wyoming are missing from the map. Looked at my old place in Ohio, missing a crap ton of providers as well. Money well spent!

koolkid1563
MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
MikroTik CCR1036-8G-2S+
MikroTik hAP AC

koolkid1563

MVM

Re: Its missing a crap ton!

I noticed that as well. When I plug in Powell's zip (there is only 1 for the whole city) it only shows VZW and TCT's fixed wireless but when I actually plug in 'Powell, WY' it shows Bresnan, Qwest, VZW, and TCT's FTTH. TCT has FTTH for in-city limits and fixed wireless outside of city limits.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Inaccurate map

We have DOCSIS 3.0 here yet it doesn't show up.

We also have fixed wireless, doesn't show up either.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Inaccurate map

Date shows 6/30/2010 - maybe you didn't have Docsis 3 at that time
I know it shows no DSL if I put in my ZIP, even though there's AT&T xDSL and pewVerse

coldmoon
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
Fulton, NY

coldmoon to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
This is a joke! They don't even list my ISP and claim we have access to 10 MBPS as being most common.

ROTFLMAO! The best we can get here is 3 MP DSL and that is at off peak hours as what IS available is so heavily over subscribed that it is usless for anything other than e-mail in the evenings (slow e-mail, but at least I get it and can reply).

Thanks for wasting our tax dollars. Next time try and actually make the end product worth the time to look at!

ForPetesSake

Anon

I WANT my money back!

Absolute rubbish! Zooming into the map in IE, Opera or Mozilla doesn't work! Go back to the drawing board FCC!!
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: I WANT my money back!

said by ForPetesSake :

Go back to the drawing board FCC!!

NTIA
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

dlewis23

Member

What a Surprise, they wasted our money again!

Well apparently, according to this map in my ZIP I can get both AT&T and Verizon DSL, but no Comcast Cable Internet.

Looks to me like our amazing guys and gals in DC have done it again... I wonder how many jobs creating this crappy map saved or created...

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

woody7

Premium Member

hmmm......

BOHICA
jacour
Premium Member
join:2001-12-11
Matthews, NC

jacour

Premium Member

Re: hmmm......

I love it. My provider is not even listed, and they have TimeWarner speeds starting at 100Mbps going up to 1Gbps. Silly me, here I am with a slow 8Mbps.

The site itself stinks; it must be on a 56K dial-up.
bgraham2
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY

bgraham2

Member

It's very slow.

You would think that for $300 million the government could have bought a decent server and a decent internet connection.

In 5 minutes I got half a map of 11787.

Maybe the govt can't get a decent fiber connection where they are.
BlueC
join:2009-11-26
Minneapolis, MN

BlueC

Member

Re: It's very slow.

said by bgraham2:

You would think that for $300 million the government could have bought a decent server and a decent internet connection.

In 5 minutes I got half a map of 11787.

Maybe the govt can't get a decent fiber connection where they are.

I know.

Quite ironic given the purpose of this money spent. The site is pretty sluggish for me, and I'm accessing it from a 100mbps connection.
TehZomB
join:2010-11-16
Berlin, MD

TehZomB

Member

Re: It's very slow.

You want the government to make a decent web server?

They can't even make ramen noodles properly.

destroyah
join:2005-04-20
Norwalk, CA

destroyah

Member

Just wow...

Works using the newest Java r24 on Mozilla 4.0.b12 nightly.

Looking at the map, fiber to the home has terrible penetration. Interesting to see that xDsl is available to a greater swath of the US compared to cable. Mobile Wireless is available to the majority of the nation, but I'm sure that speeds aren't exactly competitive with wireline service.
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

Connection Nation is paying me a personal visit.

Seriously.

On March 9th a senior technician from Connection Nation will paying me a visit, signal equipment in tow. He works and lives in Colorado but *offered* to take a look at the local situation.

There's a long story behind the personal visit. I've been on the phone with every possible provider in the book (Frontier, AT&T, VZW, Clear) as well as smaller, local WISP's (Great Lakes Wireless, FreedomNet), trying to encourage them to expand. This has been an ongoing personal project for at least a year after having painful encounters with satellite internet, low bandwith caps and terrible download speeds from VZW. My township supervisor and the board members have been "begging" (their word) ISP's to bring in service without any luck.

After I got a bit snarky on Frontier's Facebook page and sent a few emails to CN, things started to change. My state, Michigan, put it's beta map on line a few days ago and -- surprise, surprise -- showed Frontier DSL as being available when I knew darn well it wasn't, and there were no plans to bring it through. Just to be sure I called to confirm it *before* getting on ConnectMI's case.

I don't know what will happen as a result of this personal visit. It's a start, and I'm more than willing to work with anyone at the corporate and/or governmental levels if it can bring a real ISP to my area.

If you find coverage errors, report them! I should add that CN is having a live webinar to take questions at 2PM EST TODAY:

»www2.gotomeeting.com/reg ··· 88983419
chances14
join:2010-03-03
Michigan

chances14

Member

Re: Connection Nation is paying me a personal visit.

said by ShellMMG:

Seriously.

On March 9th a senior technician from Connection Nation will paying me a visit, signal equipment in tow. He works and lives in Colorado but *offered* to take a look at the local situation.

There's a long story behind the personal visit. I've been on the phone with every possible provider in the book (Frontier, AT&T, VZW, Clear) as well as smaller, local WISP's (Great Lakes Wireless, FreedomNet), trying to encourage them to expand. This has been an ongoing personal project for at least a year after having painful encounters with satellite internet, low bandwith caps and terrible download speeds from VZW. My township supervisor and the board members have been "begging" (their word) ISP's to bring in service without any luck.

After I got a bit snarky on Frontier's Facebook page and sent a few emails to CN, things started to change. My state, Michigan, put it's beta map on line a few days ago and -- surprise, surprise -- showed Frontier DSL as being available when I knew darn well it wasn't, and there were no plans to bring it through. Just to be sure I called to confirm it *before* getting on ConnectMI's case.

I don't know what will happen as a result of this personal visit. It's a start, and I'm more than willing to work with anyone at the corporate and/or governmental levels if it can bring a real ISP to my area.

If you find coverage errors, report them! I should add that CN is having a live webinar to take questions at 2PM EST TODAY:

»www2.gotomeeting.com/reg ··· 88983419

Yea that connectmi site is completly inacurrate. Where i live, it shows that i have both dsl and cable availability but i can't get neither. Frontier is just now starting to get dsl out near places where i live so i am hopeful that i will be able to get some type of broadband connection in the near future

rawgerz
The hell was that?
Premium Member
join:2004-10-03
Grove City, PA

rawgerz to ShellMMG

Premium Member

to ShellMMG
Better start saving up for a t1
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer to ShellMMG

Member

to ShellMMG
said by ShellMMG:

On March 9th a senior technician from Connection Nation will paying me a visit, signal equipment in tow. He works and lives in Colorado but *offered* to take a look at the local situation.

Are you sure he's not coming to shoot you?
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

Re: Connection Nation is paying me a personal visit.

I'm in prime hunting territory in Michigan. I guarantee I'll have more guns on the property than he does!

Seriously, he sounds like a nice fellow. He grew up in MI and used to live here, so he's familiar with the challenges we face in the broadband department.
FactChecker
Premium Member
join:2008-06-03

FactChecker

Premium Member

Your government at work

Now let's get them to take on the regulation of Internet inter-carrier compensation and peering..... because that has to be easier/cheaper than creating a map....
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

blame greed, self corporate interest

the era of greed we're in put Comcast and AT&T at the forefront of 75% of the blank spaces on that map. The other 25% are laid at the hands of Qwest's lack of doing ANYTHING significant and Verizon's jettisoning of anything unprofitable (despite vast customer protest saying otherwise).

at least soon the technology will be AFFORDABLE to break the oil & gasoline industry monopoly WIDE OPEN!

»www.greencar.com/article ··· hine.php

other biowaste machines are more expensive, but that will change soon. someone needs to leak the plans on the internet before the oil companies bury these startup companies!

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven

Member

SE corner of Montana..

Hmm.. I didn't know DSL was available throughout the ranch/dirt roads.

I really do doubt it, though. Sure, there's copper lines, but I doubt XDSL flows through them.
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

Re: SE corner of Montana..

Call the DSL company listed just to be sure.

The CN tech says that ISP's could NOT use planned future installs on their coverage map. Any connections had to be up and running, not "sometime soon" or "in the planning stage." That was one of the questions I asked because it was a concern.

If the map is in error, let them know ASAP.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: SE corner of Montana..

Click for full size
Hmm..

HunterZ
join:2003-07-16
Kent, WA

HunterZ

Member

interesting

If I don't like Comcast, I can choose either Qwest OR Covad for slow, overpriced DSL! I thought it was just Qwest that I had to choose from.

compugeek0
Premium Member
join:2002-07-30
localhost

compugeek0

Premium Member

Data is old

Data is from 6/30/2010 so it is already outdated. I typed my address in and my provider doesn't even come up.

Geek
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

Re: Data is old

The CN tech I spoke with says that all ISP's must have their final coverage data in by tomorrow, so it sounds like the map will be updated soon.
GHz9
join:2002-01-02
Needham, MA

1 recommendation

GHz9

Member

I Don't Get It...

If CN is in bed with the telecom giants, why doesn't someone create a web database of their own and ask for users to supply the data? Then just tie everything into google maps and you're done. I doubt submitting error reports to CN is going to fix anything... they don't want to provide the truth; it isn't in their best interests.
heimdm
join:2008-06-22
Martinsville, IN

heimdm

Member

Re: I Don't Get It...

It says I can get various forms of high speed, but not a single provider is in my area.
tman852
join:2010-07-06
Columbus, OH

tman852

Member

Wow

Shows no wired providers at all whatsoever for my ZIP, only cellular wireless. That's odd, shows Verizon wireless (Only EVDO Rev A here btw) as 3-6mbps. So it provides little to no data and the data it does provide is wrong, wtf was this for again?

Ericthorn
It only hurts when I laugh
Premium Member
join:2001-08-10
Paragould, AR

Ericthorn

Premium Member

So inaccurate

Even as the date of the map, 72450 never had AT&T at 6-10mbps. They only offer 768k to 6mbps with one CO and very limited coverage in the zip. Sprint and Verizon are wireless only, and good luck getting 1.5mbps-3mpbs with that. Paragould Light/Water upped their speeds over a year ago and over 1mbps to 4mbps (with the 4mbps costing a whopping 62.95/mo w/no caps).

Thank you government/whoever.. you've once again proved your incompetence

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

RESTITUTION

For everyone who said that only the government could produce an accurate broadband, all of you people, every last one of you people, should be made to pay back that $300 million.

This information was LONG AVAILABLE from the ISPs themselves. Anyone who wanted to know if broadband was available at a given location could have found out about that on their own with no government help.

Don't make me post the links.

•••••••••••••••
kiknwing
join:2010-12-13
Ogden, UT

1 recommendation

kiknwing

Member

FTTN is fake fiber

Sorry FCC but I don't count ADSL2+ as "fiber". Next time give the bird to the ISP's and post actual speeds not advertised speeds, totally different.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: FTTN is fake fiber

it isn't real fiber until it is Ethernet over Fiber

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios

Member

Re: FTTN is fake fiber

said by ArrayList:

it isn't real fiber until it is Ethernet over Fiber

FiOS damn near is from what i have read up on it
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