by
FCC Author

We are busy assisting filers of the next round of Form 477 broadband subscribership data – which were due Monday, March 1 – but want you to know about some December 2008 data we've recently posted. If you've been zooming your browser to locate your census tract on the High-Speed Reports maps, help has arrived. Join the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus grant applicants – who've been calling to ask – in checking out our new postings. Click here and scroll down to the "Census Tract Info" item.

As in the past, we've posted the data needed to exactly replicate report maps. But like the maps, the data is now much more granular than in the past because it is reported by census tract. A Microsoft Excel version lists all the census tracts, by state and county. A separate Excel file organizes them into counties. Researchers and GIS specialists can check out the same information in CSV format or SAS dataset format. Don't ignore the data dictionary – it explains data-item names and the ranges into which data are coded. And, if you don't know your census tract, here's a lookup tool that works for almost all areas (those with "E911" emergency phone service).

Also note our "Broadband Filers by State" postings – you would have scrolled past them on the way to "Census Tract Info." Recipients of Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) State Broadband Data and Development grants – who are mapping broadband availability in individual states – have been particularly interested in these. The December 2008 list is generally consistent with provider counts (by holding company, by state) in the latest High-Speed Report (with the exceptions primarily due to filer typographical errors). The June 2009 list is substantially complete but preliminary as of the posting date.

Now back to work . . .