Nate Anderson of ars technica reports on draft federal legislation, the Broadband Census of America Act, that would define broadband as 2Mbps and have the National Telecommunications and Information Administration create a searchable, Web-based map census of broadband availability. The cable/telco duopoly has historically resisted such maps since they would show large portions of their service areas don't include broadband access and discredit providers' claims that market dynamics are filling America's broadband black holes.
A broadband census has already been enacted in California as part of that state's Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, AB 2987. It requires those providers who hold broadband "video franchises" issued by the California Public Utilities Commission to provide the PUC broadband penetration data by census tract each year beginning April 1, 2008.
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