[OIA] curious to know what people think about http://bb4us.net/index.html

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Drew Clark" <drew () drewclark com>
Date: December 5, 2008 7:21:07 AM EST
To: "Karl Bode" <Karl () dslreports com>, "Bruce Kushnick" <bruce () newnetworks com 
>, oia () lists bway net, jim () baller com, dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [OIA] curious to know what people think about http://bb4us.net/index.html

Allow me to step out of my usual role as a lurker on this useful  
list....

I founded BroadbandCensus.com in January 2008 after my experience of
trying to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain some very basic
broadband information: the names of the carriers operating in each.
ZIP code. We have not yet succeeded in this task.

We don't pretend that this data is in itself crucial or even important
broadband information. Rather, it is a simple building block upon
which citizen-users are empowered to build, through crowdsourcing, new
layers of public information about speed, price, availability,
reliability and competition.

The fight to get data is still important, and it shouldn't be
abandoned. Indeed, the possibility of getting this kind of data is the
very reason that I am optimistic about the momentum that Jim Baller
has been building behind this national broadband strategy. This is one
key reason that BroadbandCensus.com is a proud signatory of the
strategy statement.

At the event on Tuesday, I stood up and asked Larry Cohen, head of the
Communications Workers of America and its speedmatters.org web site,
whether he would be willing to also include carrier-specific
information (i.e. whether a particular speed tester is using Comcast,
Verizon Communications, or someone else). He said yes. (CWA has been
very involved in Jim's coalition-building.)

In other words, once CWA implements what Cohen said it would - on
speedmatters.org or elsewhere - the public would then know not only
which areas of the country have the fastest and slowest speeds. It
would also know which carriers, in all different parts of the country,
have the fastest and slowest speeds. Additionally,  as more carriers
begin to implement bandwidth tiers and caps, the need for a variety of
services to monitor the carriers' behavior becomes all the more
necessary.

There are so many players that could be involved in these efforts.
Besides speedmatters.org, which does have an impressive collection of
data, there is, of course, DSL Reports. And - dare I mention it -
there is Connected Nation. For all the criticism that Connected Nation
has been subject to, it is worth noting that they have assembled an
impressive amount of location- and infrastructure-specific broadband
information. All that needs to happen, now, is for that data to be
linked back up to the carriers that provided it -- so that
citizen-consumers can take the data and make good use of it. The same
holds true for data collected by states, like Massachusetts,
Californis, North Carolina and Nebraska. Think of what the users of
Google Earth add on top of a simple, physical map - whether that map
is generated based upon resources of the federal government, state and
local governments, or private sector actors.

Being involved in creating this kind of a public mashup of carrier-,
government- and citizen-data is the very purpose of
BroadbandCensus.com. And if CWA and others are willing to share and
open up their information (for example, all of the content on
BroadbandCensus.com is published under a Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License), there will be much better results than if any
individual data aggregator was acting alone.

Jim Baller has been able to get all the key parties together. And as
everyone has acknowledged that there needs to be some kind of a
strategy, everyone has also acknowledged that there needs to be some
kind of metrics, or ways of measuring true performance toward
broadband objectives. I see the broadband mashup that I've outlined
above as a crucial guardian of carrier accountability.

There will undoubted be many questions about where and how to
undertake deployment decisions. Such decisions will not be made by a
single actor, e.g. The federal government. They will instead be made
by thousands of entities and individuals, including the feds, the
state broadband and telco bodies, regional development officials,
community broadband activities, owners of homes and apartments "with
tails," and, of course, individual carriers and customers. Many of
these decisions - i.e. universal service fund deployment - cannot be
made on an economically rational basis without this data.

However this all takes shape, the broadband marketplace will be better
served by transparency about what is happening in the market - with
speeds, with prices, with granularity measures of availability, with
consumer ratings on reliability and quality, and, of course, with as
complete information as possible on _who_ those competitors are.

This is why BroadbandCensus.com supports the national broadband
strategy effort that Jim Baller has been piecing together, and why we
are very encouraged by everyone talking about it together.



On 12/4/08, Karl Bode <Karl () dslreports com> wrote:
> Was just talking to Jim Baller about it...
>
> I admire the hell out of these folks (Baller, Drew Clark), I really  
> do.
>
> But I see this ending up just one way: with something that vaguely  
> looks
> like a national broadband deployment strategy, crafted to make  
> everyone feel
> good, but consisting of little more than huge subsidies and tax cuts,
> AT&T-lawyer crafted legal loopholes galore, and a heavily lobbied
> government, using farmed industry-provided data, who can't be  
> bothered to go
> into the field to confirm the money winds up where it belongs.
>
> They've gotten everybody to the table using some really painfully  
> vague
> goals, so that's a start. But the only kind of national broadband  
> policy
> AT&T, Comcast and Verizon lobbyists will sign off on is the kind  
> that just
> throws money in their general direction with no accountability.
>
> Any real plan would probably involve a revenue hit on their part.  
> That means
> they'll need to be dragged, kicking and screaming, if the U.S. is  
> going to
> implement a substantive telecom infrastructure policy that actually
> addresses consumer issues. In the age of taxpayer-funded AIG back  
> rubs and
> auto-industry bailouts. who in DC is going to do that?
>
> I'm hoping to be proven wrong. I really am. I have to believe this  
> one when
> I see it, however.
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 12:48 AM, Bruce Kushnick
> <bruce () newnetworks com>wrote:
>
> > *A National Broadband Strategy Call to Action*
> >
> >
> >
> > http://bb4us.net/index.html
> >
> >
> >
> > B.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Open Infrastructure Alliance
> > http://lists.bway.net/listinfo/oia


--
Drew Clark
Executive Director
BroadbandCensus.com

202-580-8196 (office)
202-329-9517 (mobile)
drew () drewclark com
drew () broadandbandcensus com

Daily news on broadband at http://BroadbandCensus.com

Recent articles: "National Broadband Strategy Week Begins Today, 10
a.m., in Dirksen Senate Building," at
http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=1098

"States Seeking Better Broadband Nationwide Turn and Make a Local
Focus," at http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=1065

"FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's Incredible Silicon Valley Wi-Fi
Adventure," at http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=1038

***

Broadband Breakfast Club with Susan Fox (Walt Disney), Neal Neuberger
(Institute for e-Health Policy), Alan Shark (Public Technology
Institute) and Geoff Daily (App-Rising) on "How Applications and
Broadband Mapping Harness Demand for High-Speed Internet," at the Old
Ebbitt Grill, from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m., Tuesday, December 9, 2008.
Details at http://broadbandbreakfast.eventbrite.com




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