Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
South Carolina’s Innovative Broadband Maps Verifies ISPs Internet Speeds
By
on
*In partnership with Broadband Breakfast, we occasionally republish each other's content. The following story by Broadband Breakfast Reporter Teralyn Whipple was originally published here.
South Carolina’s innovative state broadband map can accurately identify areas of over-reporting by Internet service providers (ISPs), the director of the state’s broadband office said in a recent Ask Me Anything! session in the broadband community.
South Carolina processes the same data as does the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as it creates its broadband map.
However, it also performs audits on the ISPs to ensure they are submitting accurate data. Hence, the state can determine errors in reporting data based on where the ISP’s networks had been deployed previously and where state investments have gone, said Jim Stritzinger, director of the state’s broadband office.
Providers are required to file amended returns with the FCC in the event that South Carolina’s state broadband office flags errors in their reporting information. Errors include misreporting of technology types.
If the reporting errors are not corrected, the state will report the defaulting ISP to the FCC, said Stritzinger, a software engineer with a passion for mapping broadband in the Palmetto state.
A big flaw of the FCC’s maps is that ISPs were able to report advertised speeds, which Stritzinger said were useless.
Image
To enhance the accuracy and reliability of the maps, Stritzinger partnered with broadband data collection company Ookla, and integrated speed test data directly into the mapping system. More than 12 million Ookla speed tests have now been incorporated into the map, with some census blocks containing over 15,000 tests.
In 2021, South Carolina made the decision to no longer accept Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) as reliable service anywhere in the state. Doing so opened large regions of the state to investments, said Stritzinger, and will reduce the number of underserved locations.
The state’s next iteration of its map is set to come out sometime before June 30, and will be the state’s first address-level broadband map.
Stritzinger estimated that investments from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program will be deployed in 2025. In the meantime, the state will continue working to deploy the American Rescue Plan Act dollars, which allocated $25 billion in several broadband projects, $8 billion of which will go to states and local governments directly.
Image
Geoterm
Related Stories
ACP Rally and Next #B4DE Event Spotlight Broadband Affordability
Mark your calendars for the April 30 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Rally and upcoming Building for Digital Equity Event focused on Pathways to Affordable Connectivity.
Broadband Bills To Enhance Local Autonomy Thwarted By Wisconsin State Senate
In a setback to efforts aimed at enhancing broadband access across Wisconsin, the state Senate this week dealt a blow to three key bills aimed at improving various aspects of broadband provision.
New $4 Million Open Access Project Brings Fiber Service To Rural West Virginia
A new $4 million project funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Economic Development Administration will help bring affordable fiber broadband to long underserved parts of West Virginia. The project primarily targets the rural counties of Randolph and Tucker, long stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Caution Ahead: RDOF and BEAD Collision Course
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund was supposed to drive affordable fiber into vast swaths of long-underserved parts of rural America. But the program has been plagued with problems since its inception, putting both current and future broadband funding opportunities at risk. French-owned cable company Altice is the latest to announce it would be defaulting on 18 census block groups in Louisiana.
Massachusetts and New York Look To Make Affordable Housing Broadband Ready
Massachusetts and New York officials hope to entice affordable housing property owners with new grant programs that would pay the retrofitting costs to expand high-speed Internet connectivity into decades-old affordable housing developments. Given that many of these multi-dwelling units (MDUs) were built before the advent of the Internet, a significant number of low-income tenants are living in buildings that are not wired to support reliable broadband connections or where residents can’t afford monopoly provider prices.
West Springfield, MA Breaks Ground On Citywide Fiber Plan
West Springfield residents recently gathered to break ground on a plan to deliver affordable fiber access to all 28,000 city residents. The effort, first conceived in 2021 during the height of the pandemic, involves working with Westfield Gas and Electric's broadband subsidiary Whip City Fiber to deliver symmetrical gigabit fiber.