More Broadband Data Wanted by States

There’s definitely a lot of interest from states in collecting pricing information, but the question is how and who pays for it, said Tara Thue, broadband project manager at the Utah governor’s Office of Economic Development. Utah is in talks with third-party data collection companies, she said. But some may question the accuracy of third-party pricing data, she noted. She emphasized that demand needs to be looked at before pricing information. Before any efforts to collect pricing information, there needs to be a clear indicator that pricing is the main barrier, she said. Originally, Utah was hoping to gather pricing information at the grassroots level, she said. The problem is “people don’t know what they are paying for,” she said. Meanwhile, the state’s broadband map shows consumer service availability, and the next step could be creating a map for business services, focusing on availability at anchor institutions and community development zone, she said. But nothing has been planned so far and the state is still looking at different options, she said.

States are starting to “dive deeper” since the launch of state broadband maps, said Adam Elliott, founder of data research firm ID Insight. Some states have approached his company for data that would allow them to identify carriers that didn’t contribute data, and carriers that they are not aware of, he said. Some states expressed interest in getting pricing data but the problem is that pricing information changes frequently, he said. Companies like Telogical Systems gather broadband pricing information from the public domain, said Chief Technology Officer Ken Archer. Since the launch of availability maps, states are becoming interested in pricing information to better understand barriers to adoption, Archer said. But many factors, including the length and location of promotion pricing, installation fees and other non-recurring fees, add to the complexity of gathering pricing data, he said.

NTIA, whose National Broadband Map doesn’t include pricing information, agrees that current, accurate and meaningful pricing is important, said Anne Neville, program director of State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. But after thoroughly examining the issue, the agency sees “no way to present pricing information at this time in a way that’s not misleading to consumers,” she said. Broadband service is not priced in a uniform way among providers, she said. Instead, providers offer a variety of prices based on bundled offerings, different speed tiers, and promotional offers, she said. “Even if you could do an apples-to-apples comparison, the prices gathered six months ago would very likely be outdated when we update the map,” she said. But the agency is encouraging states to share best practices which can include pricing. The NTIA’s map is updated every six months and the agency is in the process of incorporating the next round of data.

Louisiana is pursuing several broadband initiatives to offer broadband penetration data and improving adoption in the most rural areas of the state, said David Moore, the Louisiana state broadband grant administrator in the Division of Administration. Programs like Regional Broadband Symposiums, Connect My Louisiana Program and Grant Writing Workshops are underway, he said. The state’s Communities Broadband Grant Program is passing up to $900,000 of stimulus funding through to municipalities to fund broadband initiatives, he said. Application ends Tuesday.

As the stimulus project build-out and substantial ongoing private investment in broadband continued, Missouri saw three major issues through state-wide discussions: funding, adoption and investment direction, said Tim Haithcoat, Missouri’s Geographic Information Officer (GIO) under the Chief Information Officer’s Office. Funding will always be an issue, he said. A major focal element of all regional needs assessments includes digital literacy as well as making the benefits of broadband known, he said.