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The FCC is encouraging netizens to use its internet speed mobile app in an effort to finally get accurate broadband data across the United States.
In an announcement on Monday, the telecoms regulator noted that “the app provides a way for consumers to test the performance of their mobile and in-home broadband networks” and “provides the test results to the FCC.”
It stops far short of saying that the data will be used to make policy decisions, however, saying only that the figures gathered “will help to inform the FCC’s efforts to collect more accurate and granular broadband deployment data.”
The app itself has been available since 2014 with a second and third version produced in 2018 and the fourth, current version released last year. It was made for the FCC by internet metrics company SamKnows, which was started by software developer Sam Crawford in 2008. Crawford remains CTO and the company is well known within the internet industry for bringing together actionable stats.
The app’s development has in many respects tracked political battles around broadband provision. It was first envisioned and created under the FCC chairmanship of Tom Wheeler, who took on the might of the cable industry through several different avenues in an effort to put the subscriber first.
For years, Big Cable has been manipulating the data it is obliged to send the FCC over the speeds and provision of its broadband services, making the market appear much more competitive and internet access much faster than in reality. By putting a crowdsourcing app out there, Wheeler and his staff hoped to expose the depth of the manipulation.
www.theregister.com
In an announcement on Monday, the telecoms regulator noted that “the app provides a way for consumers to test the performance of their mobile and in-home broadband networks” and “provides the test results to the FCC.”
It stops far short of saying that the data will be used to make policy decisions, however, saying only that the figures gathered “will help to inform the FCC’s efforts to collect more accurate and granular broadband deployment data.”
The app itself has been available since 2014 with a second and third version produced in 2018 and the fourth, current version released last year. It was made for the FCC by internet metrics company SamKnows, which was started by software developer Sam Crawford in 2008. Crawford remains CTO and the company is well known within the internet industry for bringing together actionable stats.
The app’s development has in many respects tracked political battles around broadband provision. It was first envisioned and created under the FCC chairmanship of Tom Wheeler, who took on the might of the cable industry through several different avenues in an effort to put the subscriber first.
For years, Big Cable has been manipulating the data it is obliged to send the FCC over the speeds and provision of its broadband services, making the market appear much more competitive and internet access much faster than in reality. By putting a crowdsourcing app out there, Wheeler and his staff hoped to expose the depth of the manipulation.
FCC urges Americans to run internet speed app to counter Big Cable's broadband data fudging
Effort to get accurate info gets more serious under new chairwoman
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