As states continue to grapple with unserved areas within their borders, the mapping information contained in the National Broadband Map, continues to come under closer scrutiny. Grant funding has increasingly been dependent on criteria identifying proposed service areas which are primarily unserved by existing providers.
National Broadband Map Receives Criticism
With availability gaps receiving much of the attention when it comes to available grant funding, broadband adoption is often considered a secondary problem. However, the numbers tell a different story. While availability percentages in some states top the the ninetieth percentile, broadband adoption numbers barely reach the mid-sixties.
Broadband Adoption Most Significant Broadband Issue
Government programs developed to tackle the digital divide will need to offer a combination of solutions which deal with both issues. The federal government has announced a program created to deal with the broadband adoption issue, and the primary barriers which have been identified - awareness, affordability, and digital literacy.
FCC's Connect to Compete the Biggest Effort Ever to Close the Digital Divide
For a look at IBM's outlook on the Digital Divide - Click here.
Comments
Let’s start by talking about Google and Microsoft. There’s a new tool for anniyslag Adsense results (1, 2), while Google Search Appliance wins an award, Google Webmaster Blog opens up for comments and is Google Documents a paradigm shift? In Microsoft land, people awe writing about upcoming MS-related events, programming for activation systems and wondering which hosters fully support asp.net. Away from the big two’, new toys include a WordPress tag cloud and a simple Flash login box. On the lighter side of things, Ken has an honest spammer while Justin has a bizarre law-related spam story. Away from the laptop, Nokia’s N70 causes problems and Top Gear gets into trouble. The Ireland-USA relationship is an interesting one; Intel’s new chip has an Irish dimension, some tech people have been lost to Silicon Valley when they get there, they’ll find that tech stuff costs less. Roam4Free won’t have to worry about money if their VC process goes well; right now, they’re reading Guy Kawaski for tips. In the policy world, 3 hits its Comreg requirements ahead of time and Tom wonders about carbon neutral data centres. And finally, we have some interest in online video; a feature, some thoughts on copyright and other issues and a link to one of the most talked-about Web 2.0 topics of the week, Michael Wesch’s video. | Save as PDF | Post to del.icio.us