NTIA’s New Broadband Map Shows Digital Gaps

  The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new publicly available digital map that displays key indicators of broadband needs across the country. NTIA says this is the first interactive, public map that enables users to explore different datasets about where people do not have quality internet access.  
 
The public “Indicators of Broadband Need” tool also puts data from both public and private sources on one map, which NTIA claims is also a first. It contains data aggregated at the county, census tract, and census block level from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FCC, M-Lab, Ookla and Microsoft. Speed-test data provided by M-Lab and Ookla help to illustrate the reality that communities experience when going online, with many parts of the country reporting speeds that fall below the FCC’s current benchmark for fixed broadband service of 25 Mbps download, 3 Mbps upload. This is also the first map that allows users to graphically compare and contrast these different data sources, according to NTIA. Continue Reading