27 July 2006

FCC's latest broadband report

The FCC releases regular reports on broadband penetration. The latest installment can be found here, and the press release and summary, here. The report shows a 33% increase in broadband connectivity in 2005 over previous years. In their summary, they point out

Providers list the Zip Codes in which they have at least one high-speed connection in service to an end user, and 99% of Zip Codes were listed by at least one provider. Our analysis indicates that more than 99% of the nation’s population lives in those Zip Codes. The most widely reported technologies by this measure were satellite (with at least some presence reported in 88% of Zip Codes), ADSL (in 82% of Zip Codes), and cable modem (in 57% of Zip Codes). ADSL and/or cable modem connections were reported to be present in 87% of Zip Codes


This raises some questions ... for example, how good is "at least one high speed connection in service to an end user" in a zip code as a measure of penetration, or as a measure of closing the digital divide? Also, the FCC includes satellite service as a broadband technology ... can you provide equivelent services over satellite as you can over terrestrial technologies? Why or why not?

As it happens, the CRTC (Canada) released a similar report today. How do the reports compare? Does one report provide better information than the other? How is this information differential useful for policy makers?

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