An Address-Based Approach to Fill the Data Gaps

Federal regulators have a concern that is well documented – they do not know where exactly telecommunications services are. However, the Dallas-based Telco giant AT&T^® is proposing a possible solution to it – one that comprises getting the address of everyone. There are many customers looking for cheap cable and internet near me, while some have access to both services.

In describing its proposal, AT&T^® wrote to Federal Communications Commission, “While it may seem logical to map where broadband is available in order to determine where it is lacking, collecting data only on deployed areas does not provide the information necessary to effectively promote deployment to areas that still have no broadband. To support the deployment of broadband to unserved areas, it is also necessary to have detailed information about the locations of homes and businesses in those areas. As AT&T^® and others have found, this type of information is not readily available, but it is critical to accurately estimating the cost of deployment, designing efficient networks, and assessing when adequate deployment has been achieved.”

Particularly, the best internet provider said that the Commission should consider “An address-based approach to fill the data gaps. The result of the approach we proposed would be a data source that enables the Commission and other policy makers to more accurately target and direct funding to the communities and locations that do not have broadband.”

That is critical taking into account FCC’s “Mobility Fund Phase II” is designed to give government funds to private wireless providers so that they will roll out wireless services in rural locations, but before funds can be allotted, the Commission must figure out areas in the country that require wireless coverage. Those are the kind of areas, where people will likely be seeking cheap cable and internet near me or just data services.

In the filing with the Commission, the Dallas-based carrier laid out a process that it said would eventually result in a map that contains each address in the nation and what type of telecommunications service was available at the address.

Firstly, AT&T^® said that all telecommunications operators should put forward whatever street address info available to them to the Commission, and that data would be supplemented with that of from public resources as well as a crowd-sourcing campaign. The Commission should then identify the longitude and latitude for every street address in its master database, and then it should let customers develop the database by adding data.

AT&T^® said, “Consumers who live in areas unserved by broadband could be encouraged to make sure their location information is in the database and add it if it is not. Consumers with access to handheld GPS devices should also be allowed to submit more accurate latitude and longitude data”.