NATOA Recommends FCC Coordinate Efforts on Broadband Comparisons
In reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission, NATOA has urged that the Commission coordinate its efforts to compare international broadband offerings and conduct a domestic consumer survey. These studies, required of the Commission by the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008, are part of the larger effort to compile a national broadband inventory map and develop a national broadband plan. Specifically, the FCC must collect broadband data on 75 international cities from 25 different countries and compare that data against similar American cities. The FCC must also conduct an annual consumer survey that asks about speed, price, the technology in use, and other key issues.NATOA informed the Commission that, in order to ease the process of an international comparison, that the FCC could make use of the Sister Cities program, which has already paired American cities with international counterparts based on numerous similarities. It was also suggested to the Commission that, by going through the Sister Cities program, it could also be easier for the Commission to collect the data necessary under the Act.
As it relates to the annual consumer survey required under the Act, NATOA recommended that the Commission work with the Census Bureau to develop questions that could be incorporated into the annual American Community Survey, an ongoing data collection project. This would allow the FCC to lean on the Census Bureau’s vast expertise in collecting and compiling data without having to create a new program and duplicate agency efforts.
You can read NATOA’s reply comments to the FCC here.