[ad_1]
According to the FCC, some 25 million people do not have broadband access. However, by leveraging the data from its various online services, about 163 million people "do not use broadband internet," Microsoft said. Obviously, not having access to broadband and not using broadband Internet is not the same thing, but huge differences in numbers – because you expect those who use broadband use it at least occasionally – prompted Microsoft to dig a little deeper.
The company quotes Washington as a case study. "FCC data indicates that 100% of Ferry County residents have access to broadband, and when we spoke to local officials, they indicated that very few residents of this rural county had access and that those who do "We used broadband in the business world." Our data confirms this, showing that only two percent of Ferry County uses broadband.
A multitude of other places, rural and urban, produce similar data. So what's going on? According to John Kahan, head of analytics at Microsoft, this disparity "in almost every county in the 50 US states indicates a problem with the accuracy of the access data reported by the FCC."
As Microsoft explains, these data are not independently verified by the FCC, but simply reported. at the FCC by Internet providers, which the FCC simply states. Vendors report their coverage via Form 477, where real errors (such as a few extra 0's) may occur and where large suppliers exaggerate their coverage so they do not have to pay for the cost of production in blank spaces .
This is not a new problem and even FCC officials have expressed concern about how the data is obtained. Microsoft has suggested to members of Congress to change the system, making it more difficult for Internet service providers to make "mistakes" and misrepresentations in their coverage reports. It is this ongoing pressure that, hopefully, will help find a more accurate way of identifying true broadband coverage, which will eventually reach those who still need it.
[ad_2]
Source link