Input Sought on Improving the International Broadband Data Report

The Federal Communications Commission's International Bureau recently released the first International Broadband Data Report (2010 IBDR). The 2010 IBDR presented basic data in three main categories for communities in 37 countries: 1) publicly-available pricing information on broadband Internet access services available from Internet service providers (ISPs); 2) population, education, and other demographic information; and 3) descriptive information on regulatory structures, market conditions, and other media.

Now the FCC seeks public comment regarding the preparation of next year's IBDR, and how best to build on the foundation of the 2010 IBDR. What improvements can be made to the data and analysis used in the 2010 IBDR to make next year's IBDR more useful, particularly for policymakers, including for the Commission's overall assessment regarding the reasonable and timely deployment of broadband services to all Americans? Are there additional data and analysis that could better illuminate similarities and differences between broadband technologies, markets, and policies in U.S. and comparable foreign communities? Should the FCC provide side-by-side comparisons of the price and performance of popular broadband offerings in U.S. and foreign communities? The FCC invites interested parties to submit comments to assist this effort to improve upon the 2010 IBDR, including with respect to analytic techniques or approaches to estimate the effects of competition on the availability, capability, and adoption of broadband in foreign communities. The public notice seeks specific comment on improving several data collections pertaining to the IBDR. Comments Due: 09/27/2010. Reply Comments Due: 10/12/2010. Contact: Arthur Lechtman at (202) 418-1465, email: Arthur.Lechtman@fcc.gov (Dkt No 10-171)