Public interest groups continued to urge the FCC...

to commission staff, although FCC officials have told us pulling the item is “unlikely” (CD June 17 p10). Improving the granularity of the commission’s data was a key recommendation of the National Broadband Plan, said the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Center for Media Justice and New America Foundation in a joint letter (http://bit.ly/107NYWe). NTIA collected block-level information, which shows the approach is feasible, the public interest groups said. The groups also pushed for the collection of pricing information to “facilitate meaningful analysis of marketplace competition.” Researchers should have access to the data in a “searchable and user-friendly database,” and ISPs should report whether service in a Census block is available to every residence in that block, they said. “The measures in this letter will empower researchers, local governments and members of local communities across the nation to understand what is happening in their communities, compare that to what is happening elsewhere, and press their local internet service providers to provide affordable access for everyone.” If the commission can’t implement the recommendations before the Thursday’s FCC meeting, it should “pull the item from the agenda,” the groups said. NAF separately wrote the agency to say it’s concerned that broadband deployment data collected at a “relatively large census tract level” won’t be fully sufficient for “reliable analysis” (http://bit.ly/107MATz). “The most effective digital literacy and broadband interventions take place at the neighborhood level,” said NAF’s Open Technology Institute. “With data only at the tract level, it is difficult to locate trainings and resources in very densely populated urban areas, where there may be a need for multiple points of service within a tract.” Low population density in rural areas can “skew” an analysis, with a large tract showing as “served” even if only one person in that tract has service, OTI said. It called for collection of data at the block level to help urban and rural areas use scarce resources more effectively. The FCC is preparing to collect broadband deployment data on its Form 477, in order to take over National Broadband Map duties from NTIA (CD June 7 p16). NAF said it uses the data frequently to identify geographic areas for outreach efforts, and to understand the reasons for low broadband adoption.