Data & Mapping

Today’s USTelecom report is the latest in a spate of flawed and deeply conflicted research from internet service providers on the price of their own service. It is curious that USTelecom would rely on third-party surveys rather than get the pricing data directly from its ISP members. If internet service is as affordable as USTelecom claims, ISPs could prove it by disclosing their pricing data to the Federal Communications Commission.

Today’s USTelecom update is just more of the same grossly misleading and inaccurate analysis of broadband prices first seen in a prior report released last year. This new report, like the earlier versions, falsely asserts that the broadband prices internet users pay are declining.

Using Federal Communications Commission and other public data sources to assess recent trends in residential fixed broadband pricing in the United States. The analysis reveals continued substantial price reductions for both the most popular and highest-speed broadband internet services. The data show consumers are also benefiting from marked increases in the speeds they receive for their broadband dollar.

Competition is a wonderful thing. A case in point is the enormous difference Charter Spectrum charges new customers in areas where competition exists, and where it does not. Stop the Cap! compared promotional new customer offers in the metro Rochester (NY) market where Spectrum faces token competition from Frontier’s slow speed DSL service. Then we checked pricing in neighborhoods where a fiber to the home overbuilder called Greenlight also offers service. Spectrum does not even bother offering new customers its entry-level 200 Mbps plan in areas where it has significant fiber competition.

Where will public broadband funding make the greatest impact? As any GIS professional will tell you, the most effective way to distribute resources is to use the power of location. Recognizing where there is need by mapping the important aspects can often be the first step to success. In order to find the areas of need first requires spatial data to be accessible.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeks approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to add 67 questions to the Nov 2021 edition of the US Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS). This collection of questions is known as the NTIA Internet Use Survey, and is also referred to as the CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement. NTIA has sponsored fifteen such surveys since 1994.

Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) is calling on the Treasury Department to fund broadband projects in communities without access to 100Mbps upload and download speeds with the money allocated by the American Rescue Plan earlier in 2021. The plan’s language suggests funding can only go to “unserved” or “underserved” communities.

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said more a comprehensive map of where broadband internet service is currently available is needed before gaps in coverage can be addressed. Speaking along with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10th) at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building in Ashburn, Chairwoman Rosenworcel said updating the map is one of several initiatives the FCC has launched to address broadband infrastructure needs across the country.

Maine-based fixed wireless access (FWA) provider Redzone Wireless followed Charter Communications in seeking a waiver from commitments made in the Federal Communication Commission’s recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction on the grounds its promised deployments would be redundant. In December 2020, Redzone won $507,752 in RDOF support to cover 755 locations in its home state with broadband service.

The digital divide presents an obvious problem, but there is an obvious solution: Making the necessary investments to bring high-quality broadband to every zip code in America. Investing in broadband will jump-start economic growth by creating good-paying jobs, ensure our children are not falling behind in their coursework, empower small businesses, improve life on our farms, and protect our most vulnerable seniors by expanding access to telehealth. This isn’t an easy undertaking, but we can’t be afraid to make a big, bold investment.