Back in February the government released our first ever broadband map (available here). Our readers by and large were unimpressed, noting the map didn't compare price, and often reported non-existent competitors and unavailable speeds in many markets. Many of these shortcomings are due to carriers, who have fought for the last decade to keep price comparison and deployment data out of the hands of consumers. A new analysis of the map by ID Insight notes that while the map is a good start, it has serious problems.

ID Insight compared the map to their own own collected data, pulled from major ISPs and federal, state and local governments. Like many companies, ID Insight feels like they could have done a better map at a fraction of the $300 million the government spent. The group looks specifically at Arizona, and like many users noticed, highlights how the government's broadband map is frequently wrong when it says an area is wired for service:You think? Pages 11 and 12 of the study take a look at speed, and note that the national broadband map's speed estimates are significantly higher than what's actually offered. Insight ID's data highlights significantly more sub 5 Mbps areas across Arizona than were reported by carriers. Despite these findings, ID Insight is rather polite about the fact that we spent $300 million on a broadband map that isn't very useful:While many insist the map is "better than nothing," that's not true if the data it provides isn't accurate. A national broadband map that shows more competitors than it should certainly doesn't help the sector's biggest problem: too many monopoly or duopoly markets.