Intellectual Property Law

Guessing at data

By Susan Crawford

Markets without trustworthy information can’t function, and reliable data about highspeed internet access pricing and and speeds doesn’t seem to exist in this country.  Solving that problem was the focus of some interesting talks this morning at a conference convened by BroadbandCensus.com.

There are several voluntary efforts going on right now, based on mashing together speed tests and mapping functions (Virginia Tech, BroadbandCensus, SpeedMatters) but these are just first steps towards reliable data.  It’s an amazing situation, actually - carriers providing this basic internet access service get to say “I have something in my pocket, what color is it?” They say that this data is expensive to get and reveals proprietary information.  When state authorities want the data, sometimes the carriers make them sign  non-disclosure agreements.

(Meanwhile, Ken Flamm of UT Austin points out, the US expends more effort gathering cheese prices than internet access infrastructure data.)

I was particularly impressed by Jane Smith Patterson of the e-North Carolina Authority (funded by the legislature), who said bluntly that she thinks highspeed internet access is a utility, and that people in North Carolina want (and deserve) 30 Mbps symmetrical access.  She thinks the carriers have all the data needed, that it’s easily available, and that states should be the entities working on this issue - they have the economic development imperative that isn’t as acutely felt at the federal level.

Eamonn Confrey of Broadband.gov (Ireland) made the point that Ireland felt it was going to lose multinationals if it didn’t improve its highspeed internet access infrastructure.  So they’re working not only on data gathering but also on investing in urban dark fiber (open access) installations.

The state-federal divide on responsibility for gathering data is interesting.  The state authorities are more vitally interested in the welfare of their citizens (arguably), and the partisanship that surrounds access issues may be more muted in the state context.  Plus the pressure that states can exert on federal policy is useful.

More tomorrow from TPRC.

Full post as published by Susan Crawford Blog on September 26, 2008 (boomark / email).