The Great Broadband Mapping Distraction

[Commentary] It's unfortunate that the issue of broadband mapping is taking up any time and energy, much less about $350 million in stimulus money. Discussion of mapping takes away from discussion of the real issue ­ deployment, and why large companies have to be begged to provide service to some areas while they go to court and to state legislatures to prevent others from filling the gap. The whole point of a legitimate broadband mapping exercise is for the public and policymakers to see where the service is being offered, at what speeds and price and, as importantly, where it isn't. The "why" it isn't being offered is a separate question the map can't answer. The whole strategy of the telecom industry is to keep any mapping from revealing embarrassing information, like low speeds, high prices and spotty coverage and to keep anyone else from verifying the information it does put forward. Connected Nation (CN) is already gearing up to capture a big piece of the action, holding a webinar to tell state agencies that CN is one go-to group, one-stop shop that states need to make their mapping dollars work. That would be unfortunate on any number of levels, in part because the industry strategy has been to use public dollars to privatize the mapping function. Enough already. It's clear that the public sector wants transparency and accountability in broadband data reporting and subsequent mapping. The industry, voiced through Connected Nation, does not. There's no point in spending lots of time negotiating this. Both the Commission and NTIA should move to Plan B, which is collecting information without involving the telephone and cable companies. There are legitimate, for-profit mapping companies that don't have ties to communications carriers, there are community groups, there are any number of other approaches that could be used. It won't be the quick and easy way to getting the information, but it will have to do. Then we can move on to the real issue of how to bring broadband to areas that those same big carriers don't want to serve. They know where they are, even if they don't want to tell us.