NTIA Updates State Leaders on National Broadband Availability Map Progress

In mid-September, BroadbandUSA’s State Broadband Leaders Network (SBLN) held its semiannual Summit to discuss broadband issues and policy at the state level. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provided an update on its National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) and introduced BroadbandUSA’s new State Broadband Mapping Cohort. The NBAM is a geographic information system (GIS) platform for the visualization and comparison of federal, state, and commercially available broadband data sets to better inform broadband projects and funding decisions. NBAM’s partners include 22 states as well as the Department of Agriculture, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the US Economic Development Administration. During the presentation, NTIA showcased the wide variety of available datasets and highlighted how NBAM users can harness this data. For example, comparing Ookla crowdsourced speed test data with the Federal Communications Commission's Form 477 Broadband Deployment Data allows users to highlight potential gaps in broadband availability. To further ensure that the views of the states are incorporated as NTIA’s broadband mapping platform evolves, the SBLN and NBAM teams introduced BroadbandUSA’s State Broadband Mapping Cohort.