The BroadbandStat Application Uses GIS Technology to Map Statewide Broadband Availability and Gaps

Redlands, California — February 23, 2010 — ESRI's BroadbandStat, a new application for mapping, analyzing, and validating data about high-speed Internet availability, debuted on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in January. ESRI demonstrated the application to policy makers, industry executives, and government agency representatives at two venues, the Technology Policy Exhibition and State of the Net Conference. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, a private-sector organization that educates policy makers on Internet-related issues, sponsored both events.

BroadbandStat was developed in conjunction with Connected Nation, a nonprofit corporation and leader in promoting broadband expansion. The application gives states the ability to build and evaluate broadband expansion scenarios that take into account demographics, current broadband availability, and adoption barriers such as public access to computers. States can use the results to pinpoint where the expansion of new broadband services will help support local economic development. States can also post interactive maps of broadband coverage on the Internet to share the information with the public and receive feedback.

Jon Gant, a professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign, who attended the exhibition, was impressed by the BroadbandStat user-friendly interface. "Look at how smoothly the graphics transition from query to query," said Gant, who teaches GIS classes and has used GIS data for more than 20 years.

BroadbandStat results are also useful to broadband service providers.

"BroadbandStat is a very important tool," said Bob Mayfield, managing partner of Electronic Communications Systems, a small broadband provider in Tennessee. "For providers to be able to look at the market as we are developing our business plans—to see where broadband exists and where the demand is—this is the best thing that's come out in a while," Mayfield added.

The State of Tennessee is using BroadbandStat to post maps of statewide coverage on its Connected Tennessee Web site at www.connectedtn.org.

Eleven other states and the territory of Puerto Rico are currently ramping up to use BroadbandStat. The State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program recently granted more than $20 million to support mapping projects that use the application in these states and Puerto Rico. The funds were made available through the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

For more information on BroadbandStat, visit www.esri.com/bbstat.

About Connected Nation

Connected Nation is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that expands access to and use of broadband Internet and the related technologies that are enabled when individuals and communities have the opportunity and desire to connect. Connected Nation effectively raises the awareness of the value of broadband and related technologies by developing coalitions of influencers and enablers for technology deployment and adoption. Connected Nation works with community stakeholders, states, and technology providers to develop and implement technology expansion programs with core competencies centered around a mission to improve digital inclusion for people and places previously underserved or overlooked.

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com/news.



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