Broadband coverage on AAA map…

An article in the Times-Standard (Eureka and California’s North Coast paper) highlights the challenge of the region to introduce broadband demand aggregration, make access available in the most rural areas and encourage business. One paragraph is relevant to geospatial:

Mapping of the four-county region has taken a large portion of the project time. The original plan had been to use the California Broadband Task Force maps for Redwood Coast Connect, which were released midway into the project. But we determined the maps to be inaccurate, so we decided to gather our own mapping data. This turned out to be a larger challenge than expected since very little data was already in Geographic Information System format. I had to call every provider and ask for data, which came in every format imaginable, from GIS to a AAA map marked with highlighter.

Note to providers: You probably already use GIS, why not make electronic data available either publicly or by request? Perhaps customer service is not aware of the availability of this data? I think we are at or near a point where those researching your offerings will simply pass you by without access to such data.