Measuring Mobile Broadband

On July 8, 2010, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative and Columbia Telecommunications Corporation jointly submitted comments in response to the Federal Communication Commission's Public Notice seeking comment on the measurement of mobile broadband network performance.

Beginning with appreciation towards the Commission's commitment to promote greater transparency in all broadband services, the comments provide an overview of several open and transparent approaches to measuring mobile broadband including a systematic engineering approach and end-user 'crowdsourcing' measurement tools. The comments cover all important aspects of mobile broadband measurement extensively, including measurement metrics, parts of the network, tools and methods for measuring performance and service coverage, benefits and costs of measurement, and what little consumer information is available on mobile broadband performance. They further suggest that an open and transparent measurement process that ensures access to the underlying methodology of measurement tools and the resulting raw data by the public, researchers, and policymakers is essential to the success of this measurement effort and to promoting its extensibility for the future. The Benton Foundation, Consumers Union and Native Public Media also signed on to the comments.