PCI Submits Data to Update National Broadband Map
Clayton Black
Published: September 30, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
PCI Submits Data to Update National Broadband Map
SPRINGFIELD, IL, September 30, 2011 - The Partnership for a Connected Illinois (PCI) today made its fourth semi-annual submission of broadband coverage and community anchor institution data to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Data submitted to NTIA is used to update the National Broadband Map. In this round, PCI made updates to 57 of the 122 providers in the PCI dataset and added new connectivity data for community anchor institutions.
“PCI contacted each Illinois broadband provider and updated the DSL, cable, fiber and wireless data for the provider,” said Drew Clark, PCI Executive Director. “Changes came in the form of new infrastructure, upgraded speeds, and corrections from previously submitted PCI data.”
The process PCI undertook to carry out this process is described in great detail in the Data Narrative that accompanied the submission. The paper explains the carrier outreach process PCI undertook, the way in which PCI took raw data to generate census block level datasets as requested by the NTIA, the five methods of data verification PCI uses in verifying the accuracy of this data, the outreach process PCI used in reaching out to community anchor institutions, and the ways in which PCI is publishing this data on the Broadband Illinois website.
Clark said that one of the most important facets of this submission process was making the conversion from 2000 to 2010 census blocks at the instruction of the NTIA.
“Now that this round of data submission is complete, the PCI data team will begin utilizing the updated data to update the maps and the supply baseline study that PCI published in August 2011,” Clark said. “This will be the first opportunity for PCI to quantify progress over time.”
The process is a valuable opportunity for PCI to work with and understand the broadband provider community as well as the overall state of broadband availability in the State, he added.
The methodology document for PCI's October 2011 data filing is available here.