National Broadband Map shows high-speed Internet options
updated 04:35 pm EST, Thu February 17, 2011
US government launches National Broadband Map
The Obama administration on Thursday allowed access to the National Broadband Map it has just created. The new online service lets consumers and researchers find details on what broadband connections are available to them, how many there are and where they are. The map is a product of more than a year of work and $40 million in federal stimulus funding.
Users can find a new broadband provider and the kind of speeds they offer simply by entering a street address. Researchers can export or manipulate the data. The map is created and maintained by Commerce Department agencies. Its information will be updated twice a year and the map will be used over the course of the next five years.
Congress has earmarked $200 million for the map. A Census survey released on Thursday showed nearly 68 percent of US households subscribed to broadband services in 2010. It also revealed between 5 and 10 percent of American households don't have access to broadband Internet service, mostly in rural areas.[via Wall Street Journal]
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