Got broadband? 10% don't, according to new government data set, National Broadband Map

If you're reading this, consider yourself part of the connected majority. If you're not, obviously, you're on the wrong side of the "digital divide."

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Thursday launched the National Broadband Map, a searchable, nationwide map of broadband Internet availability.

Actually a multitude of maps based on open-source databases containing approximately 25 million records, the project was five years in the making, at a cost of $200 million.

"It's more than just a map," NTIA administrator Lawrence Strickling told reporters on a conference call. "It's a huge database of information that's going to be available to anyone to make use of. ... We think it's an unprecedented event in government data sets."

In Utah, a ZIP code entry of 84101 on the map indicates the following broadband providers and speeds (wired and wireless data, as of June 30, 2010):

Advertised speeds above 3 mbps:

Comcast Corporation: 50-100 mbps

Covad Communications Group, Inc.: 6-10 mbps

Integra Telecom Holdings, Inc.: 6-10 mbps

Clearwire Corporation: 6-10 mbps

WirelessBeehive.com LLC: 6-10 mbps

JAB Wireless, Inc.: 6-10 mbps

Verizon Communications Inc.: 3-6 mbps

Qwest Communications International, Inc.: 3-6 mbps

Utah Broadband: 3-6 mbps

Advertised speeds above 768 kbps and below 3 mbps

AT&T Inc.: 1.5-3 mbps

Deutsche Telekom AG: 1.5-3 mbps

Leap Wireless International, Inc.: 768 kbps-1.5 mbps

Sprint Nextel Corporation: 768 kbps-1.5 mbps

Acting Commerce Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank said in a press release: "A state-of-the-art communications infrastructure is essential to America's competitiveness in the global digital economy. But as Congress recognized, we need better data on America's broadband Internet capabilities in order to improve them."

Sara Jerome from The Hill reports the new map "validates" broadband stimulus spending by revealing less than 4 percent of libraries have broadband speeds of faster than 20 mbps. These institutions, including schools, received some of the broadband grants.