Having Accurate Broadband Data... Will Slow Down Broadband Growth?

from the but-of-course dept

Many broadband providers have resisted providing detailed broadband penetration data, since it would suggest that things aren't as rosy as the FCC insists with its bizarre counting system that everyone knows doesn't paint an accurate portrait of broadband in the US. However, with Congress looking to force the collection of more accurate broadband availability data, some broadband providers are protesting. Apparently, the American Cable Association is claiming that providing such information would harm broadband growth. Why? Because collecting that info would take time and effort away from providing more broadband. Of course, that suggests that these providers don't already know where they provide broadband, which is hard to believe. It also ignores that one of the suggestions for getting better broadband data is to provide a user-generated mapping tool that won't require the broadband providers' involvement at all.
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  • identicon
    Stuart, 20 Jun 2007 @ 11:40pm

    You gotta love the Government

    They never fail to amuse me.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    inc, 21 Jun 2007 @ 4:13am

    I'm sure Google could track this with their google-analytics.
    Combine the Map Overlay feature with the Connection Speeds feature. Make a nice map of what area has what speeds.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Vincent Clement (profile), 21 Jun 2007 @ 4:26am

    I'm sure Google could collect the information quickly, efficiently and cheaply. But wait, Google is one of those bandwidth freeloaders.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Casper, 21 Jun 2007 @ 7:35am

    Boss: "I expect a progress report for the new year."

    Employee: "I don't want to do that."

    Boss: "Just give me a report on what progress you made last year."

    Employee: "If you make me do that my performance will suffer."

    Boss: "WTF?!? Your fired."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Maarek, 21 Jun 2007 @ 7:41am

    You'd Like To Think That

    I work for a company who tracks lots of data on all the big telecom companies, and let me tell you, what those guys don't know could fill libraries. One major East Coast cable company asked us to compile a database of pricing of them and their competitors, but when we asked for their own pricing data, they didn't have it. They had to beg the printing company who does those garish fliers to send back the info they had printed. The project to track FIOS deployment is equally insane. Never underestimate the stupidity of a telecom company.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Fred Flint, 21 Jun 2007 @ 8:28am

    Spy Script Blocking Is Easy

    "I'm sure Google could track this with their google-analytics."

    They could but I'm not so sure it would be accurate. On this page alone, in Firefox on Linux with the NoScript Add-on, I'm blocking the following scripts:

    1. google-analytics.com
    2. mybloglog.com
    3. fmpub.net
    4. googlesyndication.com
    5. quantserve.com

    I don't know what they're meant to do but blocking them does no harm (to me!) whatsoever.

    By the way, that's not a lot of scripts to block on a single page. I've seen other pages with over a dozen hidden, secret scripts, all recording something or other for someone or other.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Jun 2007 @ 10:06am

    Never underestimate the stupidity of any large company, because they're just made up of people...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    kezia, 21 Jun 2007 @ 1:16pm

    i think eveyone overlooked a small but very important detail....IT IS NONE OF THe GOVERNMENTS F@#KING BUSINESS!!!
    oh by the way thanks to fred for sharing more items to be blocked.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Trey, 21 Jun 2007 @ 1:56pm

      Re:

      You must work for the TelCo's or something. What kind of idiot are you?

      Of course it's the government's business, it gives a HUGE chunk of information about our economy vs other countries. The problem is Telco's are trying to make themselves look much better than they actually are to make a HUGE profit at very little cost, while other countries Tel & Cable Co's infrastructure's are FAR superior to ours.

      It's sad that the "richest" country in the world has one of the worst communications systems in the modern world.

      Believe it or not, SOME agencies actually do *try* to do good things in this government.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Dosquatch, 21 Jun 2007 @ 3:17pm

      Re:

      Actually, as the government has been giving huge subsidies to the telcos, and has been allowing the telcos to collect huge amounts of money in additional fees, on the (unfulfilled) promise of FIOS to every doorstep, this is precisely the government's fucking business.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Fred Flint, 21 Jun 2007 @ 3:51pm

      Re: Blocking Transmissions

      "i think everyone overlooked a small but very important detail....IT IS NONE OF THe GOVERNMENTS F@#KING BUSINESS!!!
      oh by the way thanks to fred for sharing more items to be blocked


      Thank you. Apropos of nothing, I check every page I visit and I block anything I don't perfectly understand.

      In the case of Techdirt, there's not too much to block, really. In their case, it's just a habit.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    anymouse, 21 Jun 2007 @ 3:33pm

    stupidity vs malice

    Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice....

    Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence....

    So does it really make any difference if they are stupid or just arrogant? The result to the end users is the same.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Jun 2007 @ 9:30am

    when we asked for their own pricing data, they didn't have it. They had to beg the printing company who does those garish fliers to send back the info they had printed.
    This is absurd! They're saying that they don't track their own prices and just make up a figure when they have ads printed? Brilliant!

    Seriously, they just don't want people to know what they are doing or the fact that even they don't have a clue what they are doing it. I guess that makes it easier to screw over their customers and then claim at the congressional hearing that they had no idea that they were doing. Can't subpoena records if there aren't any...

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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