Connected Nation’s Methodology for Broadband Provider Outreach and Relationship Management

Connected Nation is a not-for-profit working across states and with the federal government to implement the State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) program created by the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008 and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and is managed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within the Department of Commerce.

One of the main components of the SBDD program is the creation of a detailed, nationwide map of broadband coverage in order to accurately pinpoint remaining gaps in broadband availability across the nation. Connected Nation is the largest mapping agent across the nation supporting the SBDD program, working in Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas to collect, process, integrate, and validate provider data, and map the broadband inventory across these jurisdictions.

This white paper provides an overview of Connected Nation’s methodology for provider outreach and relationship management, consumer data collection, and analysis to leverage crowdsourcing data stemming from broadband inquiries, and field validation of data volunteered by thousands of participating broadband providers. The memorandum also describes Connected Nation’s methodology for estimating the broadband coverage of providers who do not chose to participate in the SBDD program and volunteer estimates of their service territory.