National Maps

• The National Telecommunications Administration (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) has launched their Connecting America's Communities Map. The BTOP Map provides a visual depiction of BTOP grant recipient activities in each state. The Map focuses on how these projects impact communities, institutions and people.

  A summary-level dashboard in the Map shows the total number of communities and institutions to be connected, as well as data on total computer centers and programs pertaining to BTOP-funded projects in a particular state. Other metrics include state and national broadband adoption rates.

Policymakers can access the Map to find BTOP investments in their districts.

Researchers can use the Map as a source of data for analyzing the impact of BTOP investments to support future broadband policy and investment recommendations.

Private Industry can find BTOP-funded providers and connected institutions in their area for partnering on construction projects or obtaining new services.

Community Anchor Institutions can find BTOP-funded providers for partnering on new projects or obtaining new services.

Federal Agencies partnering with NTIA can search data and compare it with data from their own programs to understand the total impact of Federal programs and anticipate future needs.

State / Local / Tribal Governments can monitor BTOP investments in their communities and find opportunities for broadband access or training.

The public can locate BTOP-funded public computer centers and training programs in their communities to get access to high-speed Internet, increase their digital literacy, find careers online, and participate in other programs.

The National Broadband Map is a tool to search, analyze and map broadband availability across the United States. The map is an unprecedented searchable database of information on high-speed Internet access.

NTIA created the National Broadband Map in collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), using data that each state, territory and the District of Columbia (or their designees) collected from broadband providers or other data sources. Data collected by the LinkWYOMING team was forwarded to NTIA for inclusion in the national map.

The website resulting from this Federal-state partnership includes more than 25 million searchable records showing:

• Where broadband Internet service is available.
• The technology used to provide the service
• The maximum advertised speeds of the service.
• The names of the service providers.

The map will serve a variety of uses. For example:

• Federal, state, and local policymakers can compare broadband availability among geographic areas and across demographic groups, which can inform policies to support private sector investments in deploying broadband.
• The data can assist broadband providers in assessing new business opportunities and economic developers as they work to attract businesses to, or address barriers to investment in, their communities.
• The map will help consumers and small businesses learn about the broadband service options in their neighborhood or where they may relocate. Users can search by address to find the broadband providers and services available in the corresponding census block or road segment, view the data on a map, or use other interactive tools to compare broadband across various geographies, such as states, counties or congressional districts.

Read the Press Release about the unveiling of the map from the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

• For those wishing to dig a little deeper into the data behind the maps, BroadbandUSA has National Broadband Map Datasets for view. The datasets are contained in zip files and are as recent as June 30, 2011. They may be downloaded by state or for the United States as a whole.

Background

On November 6, 2009, Wyoming was awarded approximately $1.8 for NTIA’s State Broadband Data and Development Grant program (SBDD). Through NTIA, Wyoming retained the services of CostQuest Associates and the LinkAMERICA Alliance for mapping and planning efforts. LinkAMERICA has been working with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across the state in collecting, reviewing and submitting data to NTIA.

Our first data submission to NTIA took place on March 31, 2010, covering data through July 2009. Over 80 percent of Wyoming ISPs participated in this initial submission. Since that time, four additional data collection and submission rounds have taken place, with the Round 5 data collection being completed and submitted the end of March 2012. Subsequent submissions will be provided to NTIA bi-annually for inclusion in updated national maps.