broadband mapping

Thanks to Bernadine Joselyn for sending me a link from the Baller list to a fun article on DSL Reports (US has no idea how wired for broadband it is). In the article, Karl Bode talks about a recent report from Costquest that found that only 39 states have any semblance of a broadband plan and only 10 states have tried to map current broadband plans/deployment.

The stated purpose for the report (based on a survey) was to fill the gap in literature. They found that there is no national broadband plan or policy and there are no explicit (or really implicit) best practices. I completely agree. I think the closest thing we have to a best practice is Connected Nation. And I don’t know if that is so much best practice as most popular practice – as Bode points out their real “benefits remain dubious.”

Costquest is “a leader in providing information systems, economic analytics, and services that deliver comprehensive solutions to complicated business challenges.” So I expect they may be offering up some best practices soon. And wisely they’ve surveyed the playing field and I appreciate them sharing the info, even if I look at it differently than I would if it came out of a nonprofit or maybe academic organization.

Anyways, I wanted to compare Minnesota’s progress with the rest of the US. I think we’re smack dab in the middle. They don’t give responses to the survey on a state-by-state level but here’s where I place Minnesota:

1. States with some form of broadband initiative: 39 yeses (no = 11) – Now that we have a broadband task force I think we get a yes here.
2. Plan to conduct broadband mapping: 17 yeses (already done = 10; no plans = 23) – Again with the task force we’re planning

The survey followed up with a few more specific questions. I think the answer for each is that currently Minnesota doesn’t do it but the door is open for the task force to promote any or all of the following:

1. States that consider broadband availability a component of ‘universal service’: 5 yeses
2. States that plan to identify the location of key broadband infrastructure items within the state: 7 yeses
3. States that plan to use their Broadband Intiatiative to encourage carriers to deploy in high cost / uneconomic areas: 7 yeses
4. States that have analyzed, or plan to analyze, deployment barriers such as the cost to deploy broadband: 11 yeses (We’re a yes here)
5. States that plan to conduct mapping of broadband availability at or below the census block level: 15 yeses

PS – for interesting reading, check out the comments to the DSL Reports article. One big tangent is – why should we care about broadband when gas is $4+? Another is – everyone I know can get broadband. There are some good responses such as – I hear Japan and South Korea have 100 Mbps symmetrical fiber to most homes – and the government helped there. Sometimes it’s good to get the regular Joe (OK maybe not regular, but probably not broadband-focused.)