RAA Group

COOPERSTOWN, NY  - A new method for calculating broadband take rates reveals that demand for broadband is significantly higher than it was thought to be – a finding that changes the business case for service providers considering further buildouts.

Consulting firm Brian Webster Consulting published a revised methodology for calculating broadband take rates in the United States. Using the approach described in Webster’s new white paper, the broadband adoption rate in areas where broadband services are available is 72.9 percent, or about 10 percent higher than currently accepted industry estimates. The report has a breakdown for each state.

Based on these higher take rates, broadband deployments or expansions may be economically viable in areas once written off due to low household density. More accurate data and the ability to identify exactly where unserved homes are located leads to better-informed deployment strategies and more effective use of funding to address unserved households.

“Combining the enhanced broadband take rate with other economic data and trends as input to return-on-investment models and analysis,” notes Haig Sarkissian, principal consultant at Wireless 20/20 LLC, “builds additional confidence for investors on the merit of the broadband deployment business case.”

Brian Webster Consulting teamed with data provider Gadberry Group to design and prototype an approach that provides near address-level provision for broadband consumption and take rates.

“Earlier this year we provided several first-round [stimulus funding] applicants with block-level demographics, including consumer broadband usage,” explains Gadberry Group principal Larry Martin. “Combining these data with innovative analysis techniques has led to this new perspective on broadband take rate.”

“By leveraging our years of mapping experience, we help our clients strengthen their business case and go-to-market plans, allowing them to present their cases more clearly with images as well as with hard data,” says Brian Webster, principal consultant. “With the new insight provided by the census block take rate, business case analysis is further enhanced, thereby reducing the risk in the broadband investment and deployment.”

The complete white paper is available on the WirelessMapping Web site .

WirelessMapping.Com has been providing wireless and geospatial mapping services for seven years, both with and without accompanying demographic reports that show the number of households covered or passed. Most recently WirelessMapping has been involved in census block level mapping and demographic support services to clients developing applications to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding through the NTIA BTOP and RUS BIP. Past and current clients include Lockheed Martin, EarthLink, Covad, Federal Engineering, Sprint PCS, ExteNet Systems, Southern California Gas and Electric, Strix, Thunder Bay Telephone Company and BroadbandCensus.com.

NORTHFIELD, MINN. (December 3, 2009) — Broadband stimulus grant applicants can cut proposal prep time, dramatically reduce their risk to challenges and create more accurate statewide broadband maps to support a national broadband strategy using the first national broadband database. BroadBand Scout℠ from data and analytics company ID Insight reports broadband connectivity and usage down to the census block, also helping broadband service providers open new markets.

BroadBand Scout provides instant access to the data required to successfully apply for grant monies from the $7.2 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 broadband stimulus program. This same data also allows broadband and wireless carriers to cost-effectively target new areas for service expansion and better research competitors.

BroadBand Scout was developed by a unique analytical survey process of accessing the millions of records in ID Insight’s proprietary databases that were initially assembled to track retail activity. By combining known Internet access information with address-related data, BroadBand Scout allows clients to see connectivity and usage at the most granular level. For more information, visit www.IDInsight.com/broadband.asp.

“Communities, carriers and states have been starving for this data,” said ID Insight president Adam Elliott. “Understanding current broadband usage by geography is an ongoing need for stimulus applicants as well as for the broadband and wireless carrier community. By creating easy access to extensive data and sophisticated analytics, we see a phenomenal opportunity for service providers and communities to develop a data-driven approach to planning so they gain access to grant monies that may have otherwise been impossible to get.”

One of the biggest frustrations of stimulus grant applicants is compiling the necessary broadband usage data as required by the federal agencies awarding the funds. They are further frustrated by the difficulty in defending proposals from challengers who claim incumbents already cover the areas where applicants plan to provide broadband. With BroadBand Scout, communities and companies are able to accurately identify broadband access and usage when requesting grants from the broadband stimulus program.

ID Insight is partnering with broadband industry expert Craig Settles, president of Successful.com, to deliver professional services that assist stimulus grant applicants prepare and defend their proposals, and help state broadband mapping teams effectively execute their projects. “The key to effective broadband strategy, both locally and nationally, is to capture accurate connectivity data directly from consumers and businesses,” said Settles. “ID Insight offers an excellent combination of expediency and accuracy that broadband project leaders need.”

In October 2009, the first grant application to receive funding was for statewide broadband mapping projects to support the FCC’s efforts to develop a national broadband strategy. BroadBand Scout enables states to launch their projects faster and execute with greater accuracy to meet the FCC’s requirements. Other stimulus funding awards should be announced in January 2010. There is one additional round of stimulus funding with all funds distributed by September 30, 2010.

ID Insight is currently licensing the data and information to companies, states and communities. The data is available in reports summarized at the state, county, tract, block group or block number levels. Using its patent-pending analytics system, ID Insight can also provide case-by-case consulting services to predict additional high-potential expansion markets. Besides grant applicants, these services are valuable to broadband carriers looking for insights, validation and competitive advantage for their plans to open new markets.

Broadband Webinar
Broadband industry expert Craig Settles and ID Insight president Adam Elliott are co-hosting a free Webinar to discuss the vital role accurate broadband usage data and coverage maps play in implementing an effective national broadband strategy on Wednesday, December 16, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/212771379.

About ID Insight
ID Insight, the innovator in Access-Point Intelligence, knows more about people and their access points — physical addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers and other points where fraud occurs — than any other identity-fraud risk-assessment company. Based in Northfield, Minn., the company combines its massive collection of data on people and access points with patent-pending analytics to help companies prevent fraud, reduce costs and capture more business. ID Insight provides next-generation market research, verification, authentication, and fraud solutions to financial services companies, credit issuers, retailers, online merchants and wireless providers nationwide. For more information, visit www.IDInsight.com.

About Successful.com
Successful.com has delivered community broadband services since 2006, though it provided services to technology companies and end-user organizations beginning with its inception in 1986. Previous needs assessment clients include the City of Glendale, Calif., the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles and several cities in Santa Clara County, Calif. For over 20 years the firm’s workshops, consulting services and books have helped government and other organizations worldwide use technology to cut costs, improve business operations and increase revenue.