Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:25:51 -0400
From: Marian Norton <>
Subject: Gigabit Broadband in Rural Chatham County
Don’t believe everything you read! Is there really Gigabit broadband available in rural Chatham? Well if you were using the data assembled by the National Broadband Map you would have to believe that that is a reality. NC Broadband recently shared on their Facebook page an article by Ann Neville of NTIA (the makers of the map) that was posted by WRAL WIRETECH http://wraltechwire.com/ntia-faster-broadband-reaching-more/13845071/ which reports
“The data, as of Dec. 31, 2013, shows that 99 percent of Americans have access to wired and/or wireless broadband at advertised speeds of 6 Mbps downstream and 1.5 Mbps up. . .” I took the time again to put my address in the National Broadband Map and found that the data there is even more a work of fiction than a year ago. My address on rural 902 is reported as served by multiple providers, including wired service, but the most amusing was the company USAT with service of 100 Mbps- 1 Gbps! Have some fun and run you address through the map at NTIA and check out the map that your money in Washington is creating! http://broadbandmap.gov/ Click on the “expand all” to get complete information on providers at your address. There is also a place to report that a provider does or does not serve the address. They have reset this portion of the map as my 30+ previous reports of non-service are no longer visible. Maybe not all addresses are as fictional as mine, but it is my opinion that this map and information should not even be posted on the internet, much less be used to decide who gets Connect America Funding. It even shows TWC as offering cable connection at my address, and CenturyLink with DSL of 10-25 Mbps which really fiction as the only thing CenturyLink offers is a copper phone line for dial-up!
You might follow-up with comments on the NC Broadband Facebook page or WRAL WireTech if you find your address to also be a work of fiction.
Link to the article is also available on the Facebook page “Broadband for Chatham”
Thanks,
Marian Norton