---
title: "Mapping Broadband and Understanding the Internet"
description: "John Horrigan will participate in a roundtable on \"Mapping Broadband\" at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. This is part public outreach for the Commerce Department's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program."
date: "2009-03-23"
authors:
  - name: "John B. Horrigan"
    job_title: "Former Senior Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/john-b-horrigan/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2009/03/23/mapping-broadband-and-understanding-the-internet/"
categories:
  - "Internet Connectivity"
---

# Mapping Broadband and Understanding the Internet

This presentation discusses what Pew Internet data contributes to the discussion of how best to carry out the "Broadband Data Improvement Act." A provision in the bill requires that the U.S. government develop a publicly available map of broadband infrastructure nationwide. For this session, I cover a few points about consumers' knowledge gaps with respect to broadband -- gaps which broadband mapping could help fill.

Consumers face knowledge gaps with respect to:

-  **Availability **-- 14% of non-broadband users say it's not available in our surveys, but such self-reporting can be subject to error.

-  **Speed **-- 83% of broadband users can’t say what their home connection speed is, even though 1/3 pay extra for more speed.
-  **Providers **-- 22% of broadband subscribers (in 2004) said they didn’t know how many providers were available in their area.

http://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/horriganntiamapping