Recent NTIA Data on Broadband Penetration May Be Flawed

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently released a report on Broadband in America in which it cites that 99 percent of the nation's zip codes have broadband available

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently released a report on Broadband in America in which it cites that 99 percent of the nation's zip codes have broadband available---the problem is this conclusion may be very flawed based on data uncovered in my recent report titled "Opportunities and Challenges for WiMAX and Broadband Wireless in the USA."
 
The NTIA recently issued a press release touting that 99 percent of US ZIP codes had broadband access and that 91.5 percent of ZIP codes had three or more competitors and 50 percent had six or more. Their Broadband in America report appears to be based largely upon FCC data that my research for a recent report on Opportunities and Challenges for WiMAX and Broadband Wireless in the USA found flaws in. We reached numerous other important conclusions covered in a recent blog WiMAX in the US Still Faces Many Hurdles however this is a big one and could instill a sense of complacency at least among those with broadband access. For those still waiting to get access you know this rosy picture isn't true for you.

It is not just me that thinks this. A study by the Government Accountability Office points out that the FCC collects data on where subscribers are served and not where broadband infrastructure has been built out. If the FCC considers one subscriber in a ZIP code to mean that there is service in that entire ZIP that is a very suspect conclusion in my opinion.

The NTIA asserts that problems exist mostly in rural areas. I cannot refute that, however there are plenty of ZIP codes even in bigger towns that show large numbers of CLEC competitor for example that don't or can't offer broadband to most residents of the ZIP. Let me give a specific example. In my home ZIP code of 28806, there are 26 CLEC listed as having Local Exchange Coverage (not Broadband) in this ZIP code for voice services.

Unfortunately, this is where the old saying that the Devil is in the details crops us. Because when you look at the number of companies with broadband subscribers in this same ZIP the number is 12. Now that may be literally true. But as a resident I know for a fact that for the vast majority of residents in this ZIP that there is only 1 broadband provider---the local cable company. Why? Well, this is where the details of geography, actual network coverage and most importantly how data is collected crop up. Since the FCC does not collect broadband infrastructure data (and I will admit that it would be hard to do in a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis) we can't know exactly where in the ZIP there is actual coverage.

In my case, our local ZIP borders the downtown on the East side and stretches to the West. The CO for this ZIP is actually in the local downtown ZIP of 28801. So what DSL there is only covers a small portion of the ZIP on the Eastern side. I am well inside the city limits, but still about 30,000 linear feet from that CO. So for most of us, we have one broadband choice. In other ZIP codes (and yes many rural ones), there may be no broadband infrastructure in most of the ZIP code. And this happens even in metropolitan areas. I submit to the reader that broadband coverage in the US is improving, yes; but it is also not nearly as widespread as our reporting agencies would have you think. There is work to be done and opportunity for carriers to grow.

Tim Sanders

The Final Mile

Thursday, February 07, 2008 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (1)