NTIA Releases New Broadband Availability Map Pilot

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The National Information and Telecommunications Administration released a pilot of its new national broadband availability map for policymakers. NTIA says the map will help state and federal policymakers more effectively design broadband plans.

One of the most significant challenges to expanding broadband connectivity is determining which parts of the country remain unconnected.

Getting this information would help states and local communities – and the providers they work with — more accurately understand where new infrastructure is needed, says NTIA.

Last year, Congress asked NTIA to develop a National Broadband Availability Map to address this problem. Working with an initial group of eight states, the pilot is a geographic information system platform that allows for the visualization of federal, state, and commercially available data sets. Initially, the map will be made exclusively available to state and federal partners, because it includes non-public data. 

The eight partner states include California, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Utah. These states participate in NTIA’s State Broadband Leaders Network, and have active broadband plans or programs. As the pilot moves forward, NTIA will test the map’s functionality and expand it to other states, and add data from additional partners, federal agencies, industry and accessible commercial datasets.

The National Broadband Availability Map also includes data that the FCC collects twice a year. See the BroadbandUSA website for more information.

October 4, 2019   

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