Data & Mapping

Fiber Deployment Annual Report

The Fiber Broadband Association partnered with Cartesian to research the cost of fiber deployment and provide insight on how costs are evolving over time. While no two deployment projects are alike, we found many common themes:

As the FCC Refines Broadband Map Challenge Process, It’s Pretty Much an Anti-Climax

It’s unfortunate that this couldn’t have happened sooner, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released a public notice seeking input on the challenge process for the Broadband Data Collection that the commission undertakes twice yearly. Broadband providers are required to report on broadband availability, and the data ultimately is used to update the National Broadband Map.

The Plan for a Connected Illinois

Illinois is home to over 12.7 million individuals in approximately 4.9 million families who speak over 20 languages. These families live in 102 counties that range from the dense urban areas found in Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties to the rural areas in Pope and Stark counties; from Illinois’ manufacturing centers like the Quad Cities, Rockford, and Greater Peoria regions to the farmlands of Gallatin, White, and Sangamon counties. Common to all of these communities and geographies is the way they stay connected to each other and to the broader global community; how they access healthcare, e

Improving Broadband Access Across Idaho

In Fiscal Year 2023, the Idaho Office of Broadband and Idaho Broadband Advisory Board (IBAB) continued its mission of improving Broadband access across Idaho. The Office of Broadband, the department hired a new State Broadband Program Manager to oversee the office — Ramón S. Hobdey-Sánchez.

Sanborn is helping states simplify the BEAD challenge process

The Sanborn Map Company is one of a number of companies offering tools for states to help them prepare for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Launched in 2023, Sanborn’s Broadband Navigator is a tool that aims to simplify the BEAD challenge process.

Purdue Center for Regional Development leads effort for Indiana’s Digital Equity Plan

The Purdue Center for Regional Development—in partnership with the Indiana Broadband Office, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and Purdue Extension—has developed a draft of the state’s first-ever Digital Equity Plan.

FCC's Broadband Data Task Force Seeks Comment on Challenge Processes

The Broadband Data Task Force, in coordination with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Wireline Competition Bureau, and Office of Economics and Analytics, seeks public comment on its Broadband Data Collection (BDC) challenge processes.

BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability

ACA Connects, in partnership with Cartesian, announced the release of “BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability – Version 4.0.” This newest version, using data from the latest National Broadband Map, estimates that when States and Territories begin to select broadband deployment projects, 6.4 million unserved and underserved locations will be eligible for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding and that the program should be able to

Rural Families Need Broadband Subsidy Program More but Use It Less

While the future of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) remains uncertain, it is worth reviewing how the program fared in rural America. Home broadband adoption rates in rural areas have historically been 5-10 percentage points lower than those in urban locations.

Native nations with scarce internet are building their own broadband networks

On the Hopi Reservation’s more than 1.5 million acres of desert landscape in northeast Arizona, most residents live in villages atop arid mesas. Below ground, there’s a network of copper wires that provides telephone and internet service. In 2004, Hopi Telecommunications bought the company that had installed them, but has been struggling ever since to upgrade the network to broadband speeds. Hopi Telecommunications serves both the Hopi reservation and parts of the surrounding Navajo Nation.