With $350 million at stake, it’s no wonder the broadband mapping effort required by part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is turning into a bit of a circus. (After all, what turns normal, stable people into crazed money-grubbers faster than the prospect of lots of Benjamins?) Take, for example, the resurgence of controversy over Connected Nation, the nonprofit organization founded by the son of a BellSouth lobbyist and whose board consists of executives from phone and cable companies.
Allegations have swirled for more than a year that Connected Nation is little more than a front for AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and other operators that would benefit by controlling national mapping strategy. Connected Nation already maps several states’ high-speed Internet access, and there are fears the group could overcharge the government for easily obtained information. Also, ostensibly, critics contend, the companies could spin the data to cloud where, at what speeds, and in what form broadband is available in the United States. Providers then could, detractors say, obfuscate the information so rural and underserved areas appear better-covered than they in fact are, to avoid having to build into those low-demand regions.
So, now that the National Telecommunications & Information Administration is gearing up to award the mapping funds to the entity it deems best suited to the task, tempers are rising in equal proportion. Connected Nation and its supporters are on the defense, and groups such as Public Knowledge and Consumers Union are on the offense.
But is there an alternative to mapping? Sure, it’s tempting to accept the methodology as the one that accurately portrays the state of broadband in America. After all, Connected Nation isn’t the only firm that could do the job – there’s also the lesser-noticed LinkAMERICA Alliance, which seems not as beholden to special interests than its competition. Yet, what about stepping back to ask whether there’s a different, cheaper, better method than mapping? One technology policy economist says there is one: the Census.
 |
| Technology Policy Institute's Scott Wallsten |
Kelly Teal, business and regulatory editor of xchange Magazine, spoke with Scott Wallsten, vice president for research and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, about the troubles with and alternative to mapping. Here is the edited transcript.
KT: What is the key problem with broadband mapping?
SW: I’m not sure that mapping is the most effective data-gathering tool we have. It seems to me it’s expensive and has to be updated constantly. There’s another way and that’s surveys. The Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008 does have one little paragraph directing the Census to ask about broadband and that would give us a tremendous amount of information.
The Census used to collect this kind of information every year until 2003, but the last administration didn’t care and dropped those questions. It would be great if the Obama Administration gets the questions into the American community survey. Congress needs to allocate a little bit of money toward the effort, but it’s still so much cheaper than trying to build maps.
