Watchdog group sues FCC to assess broadband competition

After being stonewalled by the Federal Communications Commission, the Center for Public Integrity is going to court to get access to FCC records to determine how much competition for broadband service exists. The CPI wants to know exactly how many broadband land lines the telcos and cable companies provide in a given Zip Code. Under current FCC standards, if they offered a single connection at 200kbs or greater in a given Zip Code, that entire area would be considered being wired for high speed Internet. That standard is highly flawed in most El Dorado County Zip Codes that contain yawning broadband black holes.

Read ars technica reporter Nate Anderson's story on the federal lawsuit. The telco and cable providers are circling the wagons -- most likely because the withheld data would shine a bright light on the dreadful state of poor wireline broadband access that exists across much of the U.S.