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Ajit Pai's Rosy Broadband Deployment Claim May Be Based On Gigantic Error (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Pai's claim was questionable from the beginning, as we detailed last month. The Federal Communications Commission data cited by Chairman Pai merely showed that deployment continued at about the same rate seen during the Obama administration. Despite that, Pai claimed that new broadband deployed in 2017 was made possible by the FCC "removing barriers to infrastructure investment." But even the modest gains cited by Pai rely partly on the implausible claims of one ISP that apparently submitted false broadband coverage data to the FCC, advocacy group Free Press told the FCC in a filing this week.
The FCC data is based on Form 477 filings made by ISPs from around the country. A new Form 477 filer called Barrier Communications Corporation, doing business as BarrierFree, suddenly "claimed deployment of fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless services (each at downstream/upstream speeds of 940mbps/880mbps) to census blocks containing nearly 62 million persons," Free Press Research Director Derek Turner wrote. "This claimed level of deployment stood out to us for numerous reasons, including the impossibility of a new entrant going from serving zero census blocks as of June 30, 2017, to serving nearly 1.5 million blocks containing nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population in just six months time," Turner wrote. "We further examined the underlying Form 477 data and discovered that BarrierFree appears to have simply submitted as its coverage area a list of every single census block in each of eight states in which it claimed service: CT, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VA." In reality, BarrierFree's website doesn't market any fiber-to-the-home service, and it advertises wireless home Internet speeds of up to just 25mbps, Free Press noted. BarrierFree appears to have ignored the FCC's instructions to report service only in census blocks in which an ISP currently offers service and instead simply "listed every single census block located in eight of the states in which it's registered as a CLEC [competitive local exchange carrier]."
As a result of BarrierFree's claimed level of deployment, it skewed the FCC's overall data significantly. "Pai claimed that the number of Americans lacking access to fixed broadband with speeds of at least 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up 'has dropped by over 25 percent, from 26.1 million Americans at the end of 2016 to 19.4 million at the end of 2017,'" reports Ars. "With BarrierFree's erroneous filing removed, 'the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband connection at the 25Mbps/3Mbps threshold declined to 21.3 million, not 19.4 million,' Free Press wrote."
The FCC data is based on Form 477 filings made by ISPs from around the country. A new Form 477 filer called Barrier Communications Corporation, doing business as BarrierFree, suddenly "claimed deployment of fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless services (each at downstream/upstream speeds of 940mbps/880mbps) to census blocks containing nearly 62 million persons," Free Press Research Director Derek Turner wrote. "This claimed level of deployment stood out to us for numerous reasons, including the impossibility of a new entrant going from serving zero census blocks as of June 30, 2017, to serving nearly 1.5 million blocks containing nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population in just six months time," Turner wrote. "We further examined the underlying Form 477 data and discovered that BarrierFree appears to have simply submitted as its coverage area a list of every single census block in each of eight states in which it claimed service: CT, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VA." In reality, BarrierFree's website doesn't market any fiber-to-the-home service, and it advertises wireless home Internet speeds of up to just 25mbps, Free Press noted. BarrierFree appears to have ignored the FCC's instructions to report service only in census blocks in which an ISP currently offers service and instead simply "listed every single census block located in eight of the states in which it's registered as a CLEC [competitive local exchange carrier]."
As a result of BarrierFree's claimed level of deployment, it skewed the FCC's overall data significantly. "Pai claimed that the number of Americans lacking access to fixed broadband with speeds of at least 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up 'has dropped by over 25 percent, from 26.1 million Americans at the end of 2016 to 19.4 million at the end of 2017,'" reports Ars. "With BarrierFree's erroneous filing removed, 'the number of Americans lacking access to a fixed broadband connection at the 25Mbps/3Mbps threshold declined to 21.3 million, not 19.4 million,' Free Press wrote."
Whether the number of people without broadband dropped from 7.7% in 2016 to is 5.9% or 6.5% in 2019, that's still only at most 1.8% in two years, versus 2.7% in the previous one year, under Obama and the Democrat-run FCC. So that's actually a really horrible level of growth.
The numbers for 50 Mbps service are mostly meaningless when it comes to actual broadband growth. Every physical layer that can actually carry 25 Mbps service can also carry 50 Mbps service with only minor changes to the equipment at either end. The only thing that proves is that consumers are demanding more bandwidth.
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Iâ(TM)d like to see the number of Americans with access to two or more providers at 25Mbps or higher. Show us how we are subjected to localized monopolies.
Now that was living! Then 14400! And 19200, which somehow became 56k! 56k modem motherfucka! Living la vida loca!
that was in the process of sending our jobs to offshore. It was customer service and the only problem was the quality scores of the offshore folks were abysmal.
Somehow or another an "error" occurred and all of the offshore scores got attributed to us. Not long after the jobs finished going overseas.
You'll never once convince me that an "error" that benefits people in power is anything of the sort. Seen it way, way too often.
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So "gigantic error" is the new euphemism for "lie," then?
A lie is a poor substitute for the truth. But it's the only one we've invented so far.
How it is even possible for FCC to fail basic sanity checking of deployment data.
Given the number of small shops submitting data one would think FCC would be spending a significant amount of effort cross checking data.
Simply overlaying providers broadband subscription with deployment for certain fixed access technologies would have instantaneously keyed FCC on to a problem. Claims of total state wide FTTP deployment of all things would be absolutely trivial to spot.
Ajit Pai's Rosy Broadband Deployment Claim May Be Based On Gigantic Error
Hmmm, I think someone's already used that noun to refer to the current POTUS. Isn't there any originality in journalism now?
Look Slashdot. I am a firm believer in freedom of expression, even if it's something I don't agree with. In fact, I can tolerate it even if it's toxic.
But when these troll-accounts keep submitting identical ASCII-art hate-speech that needs to be modded down before it disappears from all of our screens (at work or at home) then it's time to take action. I don't want to have swastikas or GNAA pictures for my co-workers to see. Do you really want to become an NSFW site?
These sick people are playing you. They have a right to express themselves, but you, as a non-government entity, are not obliged to hand them a megaphone.
For the love of FSM, do something! Create a -2 or -3 Karma, or blacklist sources or (quasi-identical posts) as spam. Most of us, whatever our position, want to engage in a rational dialogue here. Those who don't should be modded down to a faint whisper, if that.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
That is effrontery and malice. You have to be 4 years old for that to count as error or mistake. Such intelligence level is enough barely to be a customer in a small town mom and pop store. I can not grasp how such actions, 180 opposed to the mission of the organisation can just be accepted. If such behavior would be allowed in military, 2/3 of your squad would be openly blown to pieces and he would just continue serving.
Come here dear customers, lie down, mouth open. I am gonna protect you by excre... i mean providing better experience.
When I was a kid, the Internet I used was called DarpaNet, and managed by the military ( which, considering the level of civic education these days, is considered part of the government ).
Poof, they are gone.
there are also political trolls here who have mod points and mod-down anything they disagree with even if its not one of those scumbaggery troll posts.
This means that if you set your filter above 0 there are many perfectly good posts you will never see, so the trolls will have succeeded in getting you to strap on blinders and not read what some of them do not want you to read.
Having said that, however, I do not advocate for the position of asking Slashdot to join Facebook, Twitter, etc in adding censorship. I'm rather weary of the dirtbaggery of people all over the web who never post any useful info, never post a reasoned argument, and seem to thrive on just shocking other people with savage insults and taunts and expletives. I still read Slashdot with my filter at 0, and I'm quite aware that not only are there lots of pigs on the web, but also that some are pigs in a perverse way - posting vile stuff that's designed to discredit the left, while actually being right wing, or conversely, posting vile stuff that's designed to look like it comes from the right and looks like the right but is actually from a left wing troll.
The solution is simple: Freedom and personal responsibility and reason, NOT censorship. Live in the real world with eyes wide open and see all the good and all the bad, and do not fall into the trap of assuming you are always right about the identies and motives of either the best or the worst actors.
"Error" would imply the cause was an honest mistake, or simple incompetence. I think we're past the stage were such explanations had any credibility quite some time ago.
blatant LIES... made by him skewing and exaggerating data, and providers reporting bogus data.
Every physical layer that can actually carry 25 Mbps service can also carry 50 Mbps service with only minor changes to the equipment at either end.
That's not true, or rather is true only from the theoretical maximum for each technology ignoring distances and losses. The fastest phone based internet system available at a distance of more than 1.5km from an exchange is VDSL2 which clocks in at 25Mbps. There's no upgrade there. There's no possibility of speed increase without fundamental infrastructure changes. On top of that the boost over ADSL2+ was marginal since at 1.5km that 16 year old service was already able to deliver 21Mbps.
This is precisely why pushing internet over phone is so expensive to upgrade, you either need to create many localised nodes to bring DSLAMs closer to the end user which requires rolling out of fibre for backhaul, or if you're already doing that you may as well just change the physical layer and roll out fibre to the user.
because when you sell your internet connection at 25mbs,you claim UP TO. So that it can theoretically be 50mbps with a change to the hardware in the box is 100% valid ACCORDING TO ISP CLAIMS.
If you want to refute the claim that the 50mbps is not valid for your current lie/excuse then you need to refute the claims of UP TO as being valid supply FIRST.
The mantra I profess that supports free speech is a load of hogwash and I don't believe it in the least, only use it to protect the hate filled or lying speech I approve of. That mantra that I spout being "The only good way to deal with bad ideas is good ideas", that "market place of ideas" is a load of bollocks I only trott out to protect the vile stuff I approve of or to attack those I hate who made their opinion known (like the OP), I dont actually think you SHOULD answer the bad ideas of trolls with good ideas, so I either hate the marketplace of ideas or I will happily pick and choose when it applies to suit my personal agenda and progress my diatribe against those I don't like.
Did I get that about right?
Because it's either DNFTT and marketplace of ideas is bollocks or you should not be claiming DNFTT because the only good response is not censorship but good ideas ("Free Speech Uber Alles! Unless I don't like what you said...!").
We don't distribute copyrighted works, nor kiddie porn, that already gets moderated out. So there's no reason for slashdot not to remove the trolls either. YOU cannot refuse the OP the right to make their case for censorship unless you want some ideas censored and refused, thereby making their case for them. Your ONLY non hypocritical option is to shut yer yap and let them have their say because you let the trolls have theirs without comment.
I agree with what you're saying .... that businesses may purposely "make mistakes" that help them get an agenda through.
That really doesn't sound like the same thing as asking every ISP in America to report its customer count, and having just about all of them do so properly except for ONE small provider? (It looks like they misinterpreted the instructions and marked off the population of their entire coverage area, vs. listing how many customers they actually had in those geographic areas they could potentially service.)
Wait.... that means that people in the Tramp administration are uninformed or lying...I can't believe that! Peace and Happiness Be Here Now
To be somewhat fair, it's reasonable to expect an ever slowing rollout of service (outside disrupting technology). That's because obviously the easiest ones will be done first.
That's not the full cause for the slowdown, of course. But it shouldn't be dismissed.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
Oh, wait, they did exactly that.
For such a enemy of humanity's greatest invention, we really know very little about him.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Did they measure how many designated shitting streets there are in each census block?
Where on earth did that come from?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I don't know who's right, but this is talking about fixed broadband, so phone technologies are a different topic.
Wild guess: India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Have you been in a coma for a decade?
...heard about "big data" and "AI". Now they feel forced to apply it to their own organization.
Surely the "AI" will magically filter out the crap input ! And the more bigger the data the better, didn't you know ?
Finally, all HI work will soon be done in South Butfuckstan, Caliphate of Pakistan. Way much cheaper than pesky Americans like you.
Color me stunned. Just stunned...
Here's my "stunned" face. =|
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Sandn iggers have subverted white men. Are you proud white men going to stop this dirty sand n igger from taking your birthrights away?
The gigantic error was in pulling Ijit Pai off of his job as a telephone scammer and giving him/it any kind of responsibility!!!!!
"Confirmation bias" is giving too much weight to measurements supporting the things you want to believe. "Depravation bias" is giving too much weight to measurements supporting the things you want others to believe.
We are clearly talking about the latter in case of Ajit Pai's FCC since he does not even bother putting up a facade of sincerity.
AKA, incorrect filing by a new company.
Is that really 'gigantic'? Hyperbole much?
Ken
Telephone used to be used to carry digital information. See Baud. Then digital carried voice. See skype. They are the same goddamned thing.
FFS see why ATM was invented you idiot.
And why the fuck should anyone care what an inbred troll like you would prefer? Sure, trolls would prefer to see everything burn if they cannot abuse it to troll. News at fucking 11.
how you became the arbiter of how offended people are allowed to be. Especially since you demanded to know why I got to claim what was valid information (when we already have a way to define it:: reality). There's no right to offend. So why do you decide that it is RIGHT to offend people deliberately and then blame them for being offended when that is what you tried to do. And why do you "defend" your trolling with "there's no right to not get offended". There's no right to do what you did either, fuckwit.
You're like a sexual offender who keeps on trying harder and harder with a woman until she complains and then berate her for letting you do it.
Oh and good one on changing what the thread started with so that you get to paint the correct moderation as wrong by strawmanning it to "definitionally bad".
To be honest, I was trying to pretend that VDSL/VDSL2 didn't exist. They're basically a way of lowering the cost of fiber by not quite making it reach your house. But in areas where it is actually deployed, that means you have fiber really, really close to your house, so even if you're one of the very, very few people who just happens to live in that tiny distance band where VDSL is possible at 25 Mbps but not 50 Mbps, the cost of getting actual fiber should be low enough that an average person could probably afford to pay for it (as in a few hundred to a few thousand bucks, max).
That said, AFAIK, VDSL2 is nowhere near 25 Mbps even at 1.5 km unless you're doing some sort of channel bonding (read "flaky as heck"). I think it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 Mbps at 1.5 km (source: Versatek). You don't get 25 Mbps until the distance to the node is around three or four hundred meters.
And if you happen to be unlucky enough to be right at 400 meters, you can still get almost 50 Mbps via VDSL (not 2). VDSL2 is only faster from about 250 meters down, and at that point, you're really, really close to 50 Mbps.
So although I might be slightly off, it's pretty much within the margin of error. :-)
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I dunno, given that Pay uses bots to load fake comments, is it possible he didn't error but, you know, deliberately lied?
The guy is an industry stooge and shill. Are we surprised any longer at what this moron does? Moron is as Moron does, that's what Momma used to say...
EVERY Form 477 has the same problem for EVERY company that files.
The FCC and other 'departments' know Exactly how it works. And here is it:
Business reports total possible customers with max-capable speeds.
But, they only need one customer Per Zip Code AT ANY SPEED and they can claim to cover the entire Zip code and all houses therein.
Its ALWAYS been that way, everyone in the industry knows it, and until it changes then high-speed internet is done in the U.S.