NSGIC 2010 Broadband Session

1. NSGIC 2010Broadband Session

2. Presenters and Presentations • Jim Schriever and Sudha Maheshwari (Sanborn) – Lessons and Experiences in Several States • Jon Gottsegen (CO) – “Tiny Bubbles”: Colorado’s Process for Identifying Areas Served by Broadband • Barney Krucoff (DC) - Working With Data from the FCC Form 477, Benefits and Pitfalls • Bill Johnson (NY) - Partnering with Providers:  Lessons Learned in NY • Bert Granberg (UT) - Broadband Verification, Space & Frontiers • Dan Widner (VA) – Virginia’s Broadband Mapping Efforts • Dave Brotzman (VT) – “Can You Hear Me Now” Drive Test Verification in VT

3. “Can You Hear Me Now”Drive Testing For Verification In Vermont Dave Brotzman VT Center For Geographic Information

4. Why Drive Test? • Mobile Cellular network data performance difficult to model • Throughput loosely correlates with RF signal strength (above minimum threshold) • User throughput impacted by many factors including: • Radio network technology and deployment settings • Radio network capacity and interference levels • Available network backhaul • Internet protocol overhead and network congestion • Best measure of user throughput is obtained from actual mobile devices • Limitations in VT • WISP coverage difficult to measure due to proprietary technology/access and point-to-point deployments

5. Wireless Internet (WISP) Point to Point

6. What We Asked For • Test All Mobile Wireless Providers - Data and Voice • Drive All Federal Aid Roads In VT ~3500 mi. • Test Provider Service as Often as Possible • Provide Connection Data, Transceiver Locations and Maps *************************************** • We’ve Only Had the Data About 2 Weeks • Preliminary Assessment

7. Pericle Drive Test System (For VT)

10. What Was Collected • Voice call success/fail • Data call success/fail and high level data transfer summary • Uplink data speeds • Downlink data speeds • Received signal strength indications (RSSI) • Network used (shows where the phone was roaming for AT&T/T-Mobile) • Network type (indicates min/max voice and data services supported) • Serving cell information: CellID for AT&T/T-Mobile, serving cell location (lat/long) for Sprint and USC and a few locations for Verizon • Neighbor cell lists (identifier, channel, RSSI for all of the neighbor sites that the mobile phone could hear). • Band/channel used information – identifies the frequency band used.

11. Overview Results - Two Providers

12. Local Results – Connect vs. No Connect

13. Local Results – With Provider Coverage Data

14. Local Results – 768 kbps or greater

15. Burlington Data Example Carrier Provided Data Coverage Measured Downlink Speed >= 768 kbps Measured Downlink Speed < 768 kbps Many test locations don’t meet NTIA Broadband Data speed criteria

16. Final Statistics • This Required a Significant Effort - Cost • 11 full days of driving (5/31-6/10) • 14.5 hours testing per day (average). • 12 hrs min, 16.5 hrs max • 5020 total miles driven • 2.7 GB of collected data • 0 speeding tickets  90 mi   150 mi  9660 sq.mi.

17. What We’re Finding (Preliminary) • Drive Testing is Realistically Most feasible For; • Small States • Very Contentious or High Value Areas • Good Correlation With Provider’s Coverage Data • Low Percentage of Connections With Service Levels =/> NTIA Broadband Speed Definition • Max Advertised Speed vsAverage Speed • Not Sure Yet How We Will Represent These Findings To NTIA or The Public – Suggestions Welcome

18. Thanks To:Steve Sharp – Project Lead/NTIA Grant - VCGI Bryan Petch - Pericle Communications Co.