FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Anita Smith • Neapolitan Agency •
501-454-3374
Larry Martin • Gadberry Group
• 501-907-7100
What’s Next for
Broadband Initiative Applicants?
New micro-level data developed to support
broadband stimulus initiatives.
August 24, 2009 – Although the
application deadline for the first round of the federal Broadband Initiative
Program funding officially closed last Thursday, leaders at the Gadberry Group say their work is just
beginning.
The State Broadband Data and Development Grant
Program (Broadband Mapping Program) will award competitive grants to eligible
entities for the development of statewide initiatives to identify and track the
availability and adoption of broadband services within each State.
According
to the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband
USA website, organizations will be notified of
grant selections on September 30.
“From
there, organizations will need to begin sizing and prioritizing markets and
potential service areas in order to make smart investments,” said Gadberry
Group principal Larry Martin. “With the accelerated timeline, organizations
selected for funding will need to work quickly to understand key
characteristics of their particular geographies, especially underserved areas
where critical data is lacking.”
Gadberry
Group provided several first round applicants with block level demographics,
including new variables that identified rural and urban blocks and
self-reported consumer broadband usage, also at the block level. According to Martin, the company is uniquely
positioned to provide the small area data that will be critical for
organizations moving forward in September and for first round applicants who
will reapply in subsequent periods.
Some
of Gadberry’s specific broadband-oriented offerings include:
Customers of Pitney
Bowes Business Insight (formerly Pitney Bowes MapInfo) were among the first
to put Gadberry’s data to work during round-one of
the application process.
“Leveraging current customer data isn’t a
problem for most telecommunications providers.
However, understanding the universe beyond their customers is where it
can become challenging,” said Steve Seabury, senior product manager of Pitney
Bowes Business Insight. “Combining existing customer data with Census data and
traditional estimations doesn’t complete the picture. As with any data-sourcing
exercise, a tremendous amount of insight can be gained by looking at the
freshest demographics available for these geographies. Without that, the
organizations tasked with mapping and maintaining the data run the risk of
providing an inaccurate or unquantifiable data about the geographies they
serve.”
Brian
Webster, proprietor of Wireless Mapping.com,
was another early adopter of Gadberry’s broadband
data and sees it as a critical piece of the puzzle he’s helping his clients
complete.
“I’ve
spent years identifying forms of data that help me perform analysis of
broadband systems and advise my clients,” said Webster. “When Gadberry called
and said they had this information available, I placed my order right away.
This level of information did not exist on large scale before now. I consider
it a foundational component of the services I’m providing.”
About The Gadberry Group
The
Gadberry Group provides location-based services and information data products
for clients who demand the most current, accurate and precise population and
demographic data for their site location analysis. MicroBuild®,
Gadberry’s patent-pending product, is unique because only MicroBuild
uses consumer data at the rooftop level to deliver quarterly household and
population counts beginning at the Census block level. For more information
about Gadberry Group, visit www.gadberry.net.