A $100 M question:Where is broadband?

The national stimulus package passed by Congress in February may have been too enthusiastic about spending money on one particular project: figuring out where broadband Internet access is available and how fast it is.

The $787 billion stimulus bill championed by the Obama administration set aside up to $350 million to create a national broadband map that could guide policies aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access. That $350 million tag struck some people in the telecommunications industry as excessive, compared with existing, smaller efforts. The map won't even be done in time to help decide where to spend much of the $7.2 billion in stimulus money earmarked for broadband programs.
Now it appears the final cost won't be as high as $350 million -- though just how much it will be is unclear.

BUT IS THAT TRULY WARRANTED, ONE MIGHT ASK BUT THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS WHO KNOWS

Even $100 million might be high. The firm could create a national broadband map for $3.5 million, and "would gladly do it for $35 million," Altman said.
Dave Burstein, editor of the DSL Prime, believes a reasonable cost for the map would be less than $30 million.
The map should reveal what most individuals already know: whether their homes can get broadband, and how fast it is. Officially, the goal for the map is to help shape broadband policy and determine where best to invest government funds. It may also help consMumers shopping for Internet service.

mark Seifert, who is overseeing the broadband grant and mapping programs at the NTIA, offers several reasons why the federal government may spend proportionally more on mapping than some states. For one thing, he said, most efforts that have been done in states have focused on so-called "last-mile" connections that link homes and businesses with the broader infrastructure of the Internet. The NTIA also wants extensive data on that behind-the-scenes Internet infrastructure.What's more, since much of the mapping data will come from phone and cable companies, the NTIA wants the information to be independently verified -- which could involve knocking on doors to confirm where broadband is and is not available and conducting other on-the-ground checks."You can spend less money on a map ... but you get what you pay for," he said. "Data costs money."