Three years ago, Georgia state officials knew they had a problem. The state needed federal funding to bring broadband to unserved parts, but no one knew where those gaps actually were. The US Federal Communications Commission maps weren’t precise enough, and Georgia didn’t have any of its own. So those officials decided to build their own maps.
The state legislature formed the Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative and passed a law that made it easier for service providers to share private, detailed information without tipping off competitors. Within two years, Georgia had built a map considered to be one of the most granular in the nation. And it didn’t have to wait for the flawed national broadband map to catch up.
“We took the approach of getting [data] more at an address- or a location-level approach to get a better understanding,” said Deana Perry, executive director of the Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative. “The publication of the map has been very beneficial,” she…
Source CNET Internet News
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