Notes on State of Vermont Broadband Availability Estimate for Federal Broadband Stimulus Programs

February 25, 2010

Summary of Approach

The map and associated data for this estimate reflects information collected by the Vermont Department of Public Service, participating with the Vermont Center for Geographic Information as part of the Vermont Broadband Mapping Initiative.  Data has been aggregated across broadband service providers at the census block level of granularity.  The analysis was based on broadband availability information collected by the Department of Public Service from broadband service providers as part of the Vermont Broadband Mapping Initiative, as well as other publicly-available information about the availability of broadband services in the state.  The available data was critically analyzed against definitions of “broadband” service and other requirements contained in the Round 2 Notices of Funds Availability (NoFAs) released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP), as well as the NoFA released by NTIA for the State Broadband Data and Development Program.  The map is intended to represent broadband availability as of June 30, 2009, or later.

Description of Data Files and Fields

Broadband map data is provided in ESRI shapefile format by year 2000 Census blocks.  Data are provided which estimate broadband availability within each block for households (used by BTOP) and premises (used by BIP).  For each Census block, the Census block group and tract are indicated.  Data file also attributes include the following:

"NONSE768T” indicates the total estimated number of nonseasonal residential E911 addresses located in areas within the census block with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 768 kbps downstream / 200 kbps upstream. 

"NONSE768P” indicates the estimated percentage of nonseasonal residential E911 locations in areas with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 768 kbps downstream / 200 kbps upstream.

"NONSE_T" indicates the total number of nonseasonal residential E911 addresses located within the census block.

"PREM5M_T” indicates the total estimated number of premises located in areas within the census block with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 5 Mbps (downstream and upstream combined). 

"PREM5M_P" indicates the estimated percentage of premises located in areas within the census block with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 5 Mbps (downstream and upstream combined). 

"PREM768T" indicates the total estimated number of premises located in areas within the census block with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 768 kbps downstream / 200 kbps upstream.

"PREM768P" "indicates the estimated percentage of premises located in areas within the census block with terrestrial broadband available at the level of at least 768 kbps downstream / 200 kbps upstream.

"PREM_T" indicates the total estimated number of premises located within the census block.

Limitations of the Maps and Data

• Availability of service shown is based extensively on service provider submissions which have been made available to the Vermont Department of Public Service as of February, 2010.  The Vermont Broadband Mapping Initiative anticipates providing data to the NTIA on March 31, 2010.  Independent verification of information, other than from publicly-available sources as part of the Vermont Broadband Mapping Program has yet not been completed.  Additional independent verification may lead to reductions in estimated broadband availability in some areas.
• The Technical Appendix for the State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program includes requirements for state broadband data programs regarding the accuracy of collected data which will apply to programs which receive support.  These include identifying availability to the address for fixed services associated with a particular address and, for nomadic or mobile services, providing polygons within which service with the described speed is provided 95% of the time to within 50 feet of the polygon’s boundary.  Some available sources of data do not closely approximate this standard and were not used to produce the estimate.  When the extent of broadband availability from available sources is not available with sufficient precision, the Vermont Broadband Mapping Initiative is undertaking efforts to independently determine the extent of broadband availability.  These efforts may lead to increases in estimated broadband availability in some areas.
• Residential availability of broadband services by census block has been calculated based on the location of non-seasonal residential E911 addresses.  This should correlate with, but is not exactly the same as, the number of households.