Category: News

A new, shorter, url:  https://i3connect.org

You can now access the I3 Connectivity Explorer at https://i3connect.org/ Your current bookmarks will continue to work.

Privacy Policy Update (Version 1.2)

TLDR; Our policy remains one of user-consent and keeping your data private.

The changes introduced in Version 1.2 are incremental. The updated policy clarifies the wording concerning web analytics (which remain opt-in), adds Stripe as a potential payment vendor, and adds the domain i3connect.org as one of our member sites. Version 1.2 of the Privacy Policy provides the details.

The next time you log in to the I3 Connectivity Explorer, you’ll be asked to confirm your acceptance of the new policy. 

Version 0.20 Improvements

The new release incorporates the following changes:

• The FCC 477 Wireline and Mobile data is updated to the distributions dated June 2018.
• The FCC 477 Wireline Adoption data is updated to December 2017, (data posted 09/2019).
• There are new map layers for HUD Opportunity Zones and for Distressed or Underserved Nonmetropolitan Middle-Income Geographies.
• New state and local Rural-Urban blocks views allow you to use rural/urban characterizations to check the number of blocks served by 0, 1, 2,  or 3+ providers.
• New state and local Well-Served blocks views have been introduced. A block is  “well served” when it has a minimum number of providers (default 3) at a specified speed. (e.g 25↓/3↑). Blocks are then  characterized as “well-served”, “under-served”, or “un-served”. The number of providers, and the target speed, are set in your Notebook preferences.
• The ACS Internet Subscription Summary and Map views include additional detail.
• Most maps now remember zoom, scroll, and layer settings from previous visits, so there’s less redrawing.

As always, let me know what you think. Your feedback helps to shape the application.

Thanks!

Version 0.19 includes schools and libraries using data from the Department of Education (NCES/CCD, NCES/PSS, NCES/IPEDS) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey. This feature set will be extended with additional data in an upcoming release. For now, schools and libraries can be displayed on map layers. You can click on a pin to see additional information. If you like this feature, let me know what additional information you would like at your fingertips.

Other new features include summary tables for ACS Internet Subscription Characteristics, for ACS Computing Devices in the Home, and for key demographic measures that appear on the Home page. Finally,  M-Lab Speed Test State vs. Local comparisons are available.

Version 0.18 is now available.

• The FCC Wireline data has been updated to include the revisions released on May 2, 2019,
• Congressional boundaries were updated to the 116th Congress,
• State and local tables were reloaded to correct missing special characters in place names, and
• Minor application updates are also included.

The next release will focus on user-interface improvements and new data visusalizations. Stay tuned!

On May 2, 2019, the FCC published corrections to the Fixed  Broadband Deployment data for December, 2017. The bulk of the changes involved two providers: BarrierFree and King Street Wireless, L.P.

Revisions were applied to 35 states and territories. A few of the corrections, such as revising the spelling of a provider’s name, have no real effect on the analysis. Others, such as the removal of BarrierFree from several states, are more extensive.

A preliminary analysis of the changes can be found here.

The Connectivity Explorer will be updated to include the revised data on May 12, 2019.

8 April 2019

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There’s a new release that incorporates more of the recently-released Census data for Census data regarding subscriber characteristics and device usage.

The release also includes:

• A revised menu flow. There’s a new dropdown for the Census Internet data, and the Subscription choice has moved there. There’s also a new dropdown for the M-Lab Speedtest data.
• The FCC adoption table has been updated to the data from June, 2017.
• And of course, internal improvements.

More about the I3 Connectivity Explorer.

Next up: Diving into the Census data on subscribers.

Version 0.14.0

The latest version of the I3 Connectivity Explorer incorporates the newly published Census estimates about broadband subscription rates. I’ve also reworked the map views in order to test out a different approach to showing multiple forms of information on the same map. Finally, one can now drill down from the Wireline and Wireless provider tables to see just where each provider provides service. I hope that this approach clarifies the prior version’s more muddled sets of choices.

December,  2018,  brought gifts of data from both the Census and the FCC. These new data sets are now incorporated throughout the Connectivity Explorer.

The new Census data (released December 6, 2018) adds information about broadband and computer usage across the US.This is a rich set of data that contains many fascinating relationships. I’ll be adding several new data views to help you understand those relationships over the next few weeks.

The new FCC wireline data set (released December 12, 2018) contains extensive changes, while the updated wireless data contains corrections to the July 2017 trove.

New Features

• You can now specify a target (wireline) speed for each notebook. So if your target goal is, say, 100 Mbs download, 25 Mbs upload, set this in the notebook, and that speed will be added to various views and choices. If you don’t set a target speed, it will fall back to the FCC goal of 25↓/3↑.

• You can also set the expected economic boost for a community (in annual dollars per household). This value is used on the overview page where the annual economic benefit of broadband is displayed. The help pages talk more about where this value came from. I’m using the mean value from the Swank Program Study (Connecting the Dots Of Ohio’s Broadband Policy)

  Here’s more about the Swank Program study: The first, Measuring Broadband’s (Public) Return On Investment, is an overview from the Daily Yonder. The second, from the  Blandin Foundation uses the study’s results to analyze several counties in Minnesota.