Broadband service area data is processed based on the format in which it was delivered to Connect Nevada. Since the majority of broadband providers do not have data stored in any single or standard format, Connect Nevada works with providers to understand their data and network structure to help them “translate” this information into a useful GIS format in order to produce accurate service area representations.

Since the majority of broadband providers do not have data stored in any single or standard format, Connect Nevada works with providers to understand their data and network structure to help them “translate” this information into a useful GIS format in order to produce accurate service area representations. Data can range from ESRI shapefiles, CAD data, spreadsheets, and previously existing maps of coverage areas to a list of served Census Blocks and road segments and everything in between.

As set forth by the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and subsequent clarifications of the State Broadband Initiative Grant Program (SBI), specific data layers illustrating where broadband service is available were submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The data collection has been done in accordance with the requirements of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and subsequent clarifications set forth by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) State Broadband Initiative Grant Program (SBI). The process began by contacting all known providers in the state and providing information about the broadband mapping project. Information on broadband service areas was collected from each willing provider through voluntary participation.

Connect Nevada’s state maps display broadband data differently than the National Broadband Map based on the requirements for the submission of data to NTIA.

Connect Nevada has solicited, reviewed, verified, and submitted ten rounds of data to the NTIA, semi-annually since spring 2010.  The broadband data collected from various mapping entities and state agencies across the fifty-six states and territories that encompass the United States serves as the inputs for the broadband information displayed on the National Broadband Map. Connect Nevada has concluded its service for this 5-year National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) State Broadband Initiative Grant Program.  

The American Recovery and Reinvestment of 2009 requires that the national map “depict[] the geographic extent to which broadband service capability is deployed and available from a commercial provider or public provider throughout each State.” This Recovery Act requires that NTIA by February 17, 2011, make the map “accessible by the public on a World Wide Web site of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in a form that is interactive and searchable.”