Report shows history of industry efforts to suppress broadband data collection

In "Industry Lobby Keeps Public in the Dark About Broadband," John Dunbar, director of American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop, details a history of industry efforts to prevent regulators from getting information to map what homes are getting service, the prices they pay and the speeds that they are offered.

Without such data, regulators will be hamstrung in their efforts to bring universal broadband, public interest advocates say And the Obama administration's allocation of $350 million in stimulus funds for a new mapping program appears riddled with weaknesses, they say.

"The lack of requirement for robust, public data in the legislation is no accident," Dunbar writes. Public interest groups say in the report that accurate data in small geographies would show if poorer neighborhoods have slower speeds, higher prices and few options among service providers.