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Microsoft Says the FCC 'Overstates' Broadband Availability In the US (vice.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Microsoft this week was the latest to highlight the U.S. government's terrible broadband mapping in a filing with the FCC, first spotted by journalist Wendy Davis. In it, Microsoft accuses the FCC of over-stating actual broadband availability and urges the agency to do better. "The Commission's broadband availability data, which underpins FCC Form 477 and the Commission's annual Section 706 report, appears to overstate the extent to which broadband is actually available throughout the nation," Microsoft said in the filing. "For example, in some areas the Commission's broadband availability data suggests that ISPs have reported significant broadband availability (25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up) while Microsoft's usage data indicates that only a small percentage of consumers actually access the Internet at broadband speeds in those areas," Microsoft said.
Similar criticism has long plagued the agency. The FCC's broadband data is received via the form 477 data collected from ISPs. But ISPs have a vested interest in over-stating broadband availability to obscure the sector's competition problems, and the FCC historically hasn't worked very hard to independently verify whether this data is truly accurate. The FCC's methodology has long been criticized as well. As it currently stands, the agency declares an entire ZIP code as "served" with broadband if just one home in an entire census block has it. In its filing, Microsoft "suggested that the Commission's ongoing effort to more accurately measure broadband could be improved by drawing on the FCC's subscription data, along with other broadband data sets from third-parties such as Microsoft, to complement survey data submitted under the current rules."
Similar criticism has long plagued the agency. The FCC's broadband data is received via the form 477 data collected from ISPs. But ISPs have a vested interest in over-stating broadband availability to obscure the sector's competition problems, and the FCC historically hasn't worked very hard to independently verify whether this data is truly accurate. The FCC's methodology has long been criticized as well. As it currently stands, the agency declares an entire ZIP code as "served" with broadband if just one home in an entire census block has it. In its filing, Microsoft "suggested that the Commission's ongoing effort to more accurately measure broadband could be improved by drawing on the FCC's subscription data, along with other broadband data sets from third-parties such as Microsoft, to complement survey data submitted under the current rules."
Remember that your ISP can be like a tube. A series of tubes.
Tubes that have to bring extra big truck loads of new gaming material to each game in real time.
What is not great about your ISP tube?
1. The series of tubes is NN approved paper insulated wireline.
2. The one network needed a lot more work and a lot new investment to make it great. The tube never got the investment.
3. The one tube like network was once really great but cant support computer games. New investment had to start a long time ago.
4. The series of tubes ends in one tube that never had much investment.
5. The part where one tube meets a series of new tubes was never going to support all the new computer games.
Work out want your one NN approved ISP is doing so wrong.
Lack of investment? The wrong tube? The series of tubes needs a more professional ISP to build a new tube?
Been a monopoly ISP is not about placing one tube network in a community and extracting profits for generations from that community.
That monopoly ISP should have had an upgrade ability in the terms that allowed it to stay the only monopoly ISP in that community.
To keep up with network advancements in tube design as part of been a protected monopoly ISP.
Cant keep up with new tube tech? Why is your ISP/telco/near monopoly network not keeping up with your new games?
Time for some community broadband and fast new tubes to enjoy new computer games.
Open that community up to innovative new ISP to replace the monopoly IPS that totally failed in its monopoly obligations.
Get your community ready for new computer games.
1000/1000 services and no data caps to stop your enjoyment of new computer games.
Start your grass roots demands for new big ISP tubes today.
Think of the games you will be missing out on as you to petition the Government and near monopoly ISP for a great series of new tubes.
Community broadband. Open your community to many more innovative ISP that have fast tubes.
Bring fast new tubes to your community and be ready for new computer games.
The OS, RAM, GPU, CPU and games are ready. Get your community tube ready for the new computer games.
The new tubes in your community that will allow you to enjoy the games. Enormous amounts of new gaming material for every game every time you game.
Without that fast tube the enormous amounts of new gaming material will not work at all.
Support great new computer games and get your community online again.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"