Mapping is called key to expanding broadband service

MAPPING IS CALLED KEY TO EXPANDING SERVICE
[SOURCE: St Louis Post-Dispatch, AUTHOR: Tim Logan]
Public mapping of Internet availability is scarce, experts in the field say, even as high-speed connections become increasingly important to both business and home users. The most comprehensive effort is a list, published every six months by the Federal Communications Commission, of how many companies provide broadband in each ZIP code. But it doesn't name the companies or specify if they serve business or residential customers. Nor does it say how much of the ZIP code they cover: A company that serves two households counts the same as one that serves the whole area. But bills moving in Congress would mandate more detailed information, with lawmakers arguing that mapping broadband is the first step towards supplying more of it. "It's a really valuable thing for consumers," said Drew Clark, a senior fellow with the Center for Public Integrity, an investigative group that has worked on the issue. "I think that there's pressure building for real, live information about broadband."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/77F9A9B61B84...

-- More from Drew Clark --
http://www.drewclark.com/2007/10/mashing-media-and-watching-fcc.shtml