Utah broadband service location fabric exploration

[nathankota]

Benefit

A required rebuild of the Utah Residential Broadband Map provides an opportunity to reimagine the entire process around receiving, aggregating, munging, and displaying broadband provider service data throughout Utah. The FCC's CostQuest Broadband Service Location (BSL) fabric data set (FCC National Broadband Map) has become the national standard for collecting and communicating broadband service data and information, and provides a possible template for how to collect and display Utah-specific BSLs and associated provider data. However, the license restrictions associated with the use of the CostQuest fabric, and its unknown longevity, inhibit it from being a long term solution and replacement of Utah residential broadband data. Finally, the bi-annual data collection and aggregation process that has existed for more than a decade is not only untenable for UGRC in perpetuity, but is also diverging from a potentially truer representation of broadband availability in Utah, thereby requiring a fresh Utah-specific solution for broadband data into the future. Making progress on a proof of concept Utah fabric data set will help UGRC and GOEO's Broadband Center to understand, ideate (yes! I finally used this term!), and plan for a new Utah residential broadband map and data set.

Acceptance Criteria

• Simple replication of the CostQuest BSL fabric using Utah address point data and provider/service data from our bi-annually updated layer.
• Internal conversation about possibilities for streamlined collection of provider updates, and map display and interaction.
• Conversation with GOEO Broadband about possible paths forward.

Notes

No response

Risks

Accept: A Utah-specific fabric becomes a non-starter for replacement of the current provider data set and methodology.

• Innacurate/imprecise provider data.
• Lack of cooperation by providers due to duplication of efforts between us and FCC

Issue Reference

refs #63

[jacobdadams]

Also: Evaluate responses for UETN fabric challenge

[jacobdadams]

In our regular call on 19 September 24, Rebecca mentioned she'd talked with CostQuest at a conference about licensing the fabric for the State's use for building a new broadband map/dataset. This would allow providers to continue to work with the BSLs they're familiar with.