WASHINGTON, D.C. June 29, 2007 — The Center for Public Integrity's efforts to ensure that government information about broadband deployment is made available to the public have created considerable interest among industry players and associations seeking to block access to broadband records based on competitive concerns.

Since filing its Sept. 25, 2006 lawsuit, the Center has sought to make data about broadband companies publicly available through its “Well Connected” Media Tracker, a free, Internet-based database of television, radio, newspaper and cable companies searchable by ZIP code. The suit seeks to obtain an FCC database of broadband companies that provide high-speed Internet and the ZIP codes in which they operate so citizens have a better understanding of who they can turn to for high-speed access.

“Public identification of the areas in which companies provide broadband service would enhance citizens’ understanding of their options for high-speed access,” said Drew Clark, senior fellow and “Well Connected” project manager. “Releasing information about the ZIP codes in which companies offer service would not cause competitive harm.”

The Center helped organize a June 28 conference on broadband issues that brought together major industry players, including AT&T, Comcast, Verizon Communications, a small rural wireless Internet service provider, and leading academics and nonprofit experts.

Efforts to make broadband data public have led other government, non-profit and business-led efforts into the debate. The FCC is currently reconsidering its data-collection policies for broadband, while agencies such as the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also are considering getting involved. Last month, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, introduced the Broadband Data Improvement Act (S.1492) requiring the FCC to supplement the information it currently collects about broadband deployment with more localized data, including ZIP code plus four digits. It also calls for the creation of online maps revealing the availability of high-speed Internet services.

Similar draft legislation was released in May by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, requiring the NTIA to create and publicize a nationwide map featuring broadband provider’s service locations that could be searched in detail.

On June 12, the Center filed its final reply brief addressing the FCC’s rebuttal arguments. If the Center’s lawsuit is successful, the names of every broadband company will be included in the Media Tracker, searchable by ZIP code, alongside those companies that provide television, radio, cable and newspapers.

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