network performance data for state broadband initiatives

Network Performance Data for

State Broadband Initiatives

Best in ClassCrowdsourced Data

for

Copyright 2021, Ookla, LLC

• Broadband Effort Prioritization • Remote Educational Connectivity• Indoor Coverage / Public Safety• Telecom Industry Negotiation• Right-of-Way Planning

Ookla®The global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence, testing applications and technology. Internet service providers, mobile network operators, businesses and government agencies alike rely on Ookla for unparalleled and immediate information on the state of networks and online services.

Speedtest has the most …

Users Tests Data Insight

Trusted by the Public• Hundreds of millions of users

• 10+ million tests taken every day (34+ billion tests to date)

• Anonymized data ensures privacy and GDPR compliance

• Clients include every major telecom provider in the United States


2020 Speedtest Stats for the United States

293 million tests combined on

fixed & wireless networks

taken on

58 million unique devices

includes 154 million tests with GPS precision location

Speedtest Server Network™ has over 1,600servers in United States & U.S. Territories


Key Stat

as of Dec, 2020

As the de facto internet intelligence standard, Ookla fixed and mobile data is used by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for internal analysis, reports to Congress and public documents on the status of the telecommunications marketplace.

Ookla supplies the National Telecommunications Information Agency (NTIA) with access to our Speedtest measurement data for fixed and wireless networks as well as intelligence on wireless network coverage to support their efforts to build the National Broadband Availability Map.

Ookla is the exclusive provider of global network performance data to GSMA Intelligence (GSMAi), a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with almost 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

As official members of the ITU-T (Study Group 12), Ookla partners with leading global operators, test and measurement companies, infrastructure and hardware providers, network analytics providers and regulators to help develop and define quality of service (QoS) and experience (QoE) standards.

Industry Leadership & Partnerships


• Lack of dependable, consistent data sources

• Federal data is out of date, incomplete and self-reported

• Lack of location detail in data

• Rural communities a patchwork of Have/Have Not

• Defining Accessibility vs. Affordability

• Variability in federal programs (CAF, RDOF, Rural 5G, etc.)

• Ongoing operator compliance after subsidized build-out

Problems / Challenges with Broadband Investment

How do Governments Use Speedtest Data?


Map service availability

Define underserved areas

Filter metrics by operator

Track network development

View mobile network coverage

Hold operators accountable

Analyze high-traffic areas

Inform policy decisions

FCC says21 million

Microsoft says162 million

The truth is likely somewhere in between.

How Many Americans Lack Broadband?

Fixed Broadband DeploymentFederalCommunicationsCommission

SpeedtestIntelligence®

Why do states need to supplement their data collection efforts?


As of Jan 29, 2021 Maine Minnesota Washington Wyoming

Announcedlaunch date

Nov 24, 2020 Aug 3, 2020 Jul 30, 2020 Jul 18, 2019

Test countsince launch 14,478 47,716 33,054† 2,754*

Weeks operational 9.5 25.5 26 79

Local EffortsAverage per week 1,524 1,871 1,271 35

2020 Speedtest™measurements 1,124,573 5,071,852 8,345,312 445,476

OoklaAverage per week 21,626 97,536 160,486 8,567

• Lack of historical data

• Participation will decrease without constant enagement

• Search engine results and app stores will not present your test near top of 1st page

Examples of Local Collection Efforts

†Test count as of 2/3/12*Likely out of date. Test count has not recently changed

• Need for greater volume!Speedtest® is collecting an average of 60x more tests

Stats as of 12 Feb 2021

Public Adoption and Review Statistics

Icon

App Name

Publisher NACo FCC Ookla

Reviews 26 1,634 1,245,025

Installs 5,000+ 100,000+ 100,000,000+

The Speedtest by Ookla app is installed on iOS and Android devices at a rate of 20 million times a quarter – close to 10,000 installs every hour.

Fact

User Rating

Better Data Means Better Decisions

• A small investment in better data can inform better decisions

• Target areas where broadband is needed most

• Avoid over-building and harming existing businesses

• Analyze using your demographics —do the most good, for the most people

• Prioritize fiber in the Right-of-Way

Example:

Georgia

All FixedOperators

YTD* 2020

*As of Nov 25

SpeedtestIntelligence®Portal

100+ Mbps

25 - 100 Mbps

Less than 25 Mbps

Speedtest®Measurements

Example:Northeast IllinoisNov 2019 – Jan 2020

Consumer-Initiated Fixed Network Performance

• Fixed operators tested via Android and iOS devices

• Filtered for records with GPS-provided longitude and latitude





100+ Mbps25 - 100 Mbps

Less than 25 Mbps




• Layering with highest speeds on top allows underserved areas (RED) to clearly show through






• Compare test results to each ISP’s Form 477 footprints

100+ Mbps25 - 100 Mbps

Less than 25 Mbps


Frontier DSLservice area

FCC Form 477 Submission


50+ Mbps

Download Speeds

25 - 50 Mbps

10 - 25 Mbps

Less than 10 Mbps

Median Speeds by Zip Code

Example:

New YorkCongressional District 22

All OperatorsJan – Jun 2020


Consumer-InitiatedFixed Network Performance


Download Speeds

Example:

New YorkCongressional District 22




300+ Mbps

25 - 300 Mbps

Less than 25 Mbps



Example:

Chenango County, NY




50+ Mbps

Download Speeds

25 - 50 Mbps

10 - 25 Mbps

Less than 10 Mbps

300+ Mbps

25 - 300 Mbps

Less than 25 Mbps



13830

13801

13815

13870

13733

1373013787

13778

13460

13411

13843

13832

13155

13136

13464

13813

2020 Tribal Lands Broadband Performance

Median Download Speed

Tribal Lands



Tribal Lands

Example:Idaho County, IDYear 2020

• Identify where people are and where they are not

National Forest or Wilderness area

Tribal Lands


Example:Idaho County, IDYear 2020

• Identify where people are and where they are not

• Zip codes can represent extremely large areas

• Pinpointing communities in need helps prioritize funding

• Tribal lands offer additional funding opportunities

50+ Mbps25 - 50 Mbps10 - 25 Mbps< 10 Mbps


50 – 100 Mbps

10 - 25 Mbps< 10 Mbps


25 – 50 Mbps

300+ Mbps100 – 300 Mbps No Zip Code

assigned

Education Lessons from the Pandemic:Using Crowdsourced Data to Improve:

• Remote Classrooms• the Homework Gap • the Digital Divide

“The Georgia Department of Education is using Ookla Cell Analytics to assist our district with the placement of mobile cellular based Wi-Fi transmitter devices. This tool takes away the guesswork of identifying areas of placement with the highest cellular signal strength for the best student experience possible. These Wi-Fi devices will give students in areas with no home connectivity the ability to gather for instructional purposes while practicing social distancing.”

— Chris Shealy, Director of Technology ServicesGeorgia State Department of Education

Unlike data collected by traditional methods such as drive testing and walk testing, the real-world measurements in Cell Analytics are collected where consumers are actually connecting to networks — on streets, inside vehicles, at home, at work and other locations — with high location accuracy.

Combined with data on cell site locations, tools to prioritize optimization and deployment efforts, and competitor comparisons, Cell Analytics provides a comprehensive platform for mobile network operators to understand their networks and identify the areas that need improvement.

Signal strengthand quality

Indoor coverage

Tower locations

Cell Analytics™

Performance, coverage and signal measurement data

Georgia Site Selection

Potential site locations were selected for evaluation as follows, considering where the students were concentrated:

1. School, library, government-owned location

2. Church or other community gathering location

3. Areas lacking the above locations, determined by accessibility of parking lots, crossroads and other open areas that allow for safe parking

Locations were then evaluated for cellular carrier performance characteristics using:

• Information from the Cellular Carriers

• CellAnalytics (Ookla)

• TowerSource (Ookla)

• Publicly available databases


Schools

Libraries

Solving for where Wi-Fi/LTE

hotspots will work

Strong

Medium

Weak

Signal Strength

Cell Analytics™

Site Evaluation Criteria

1. Previously recommended by a carrier2. Within 1.5 miles of tower miles of tower miles of a tower

(carriers do not disclose which towers they are on therefore it could not be determined whether or not the carrier had equipment on a particular tower)

3. Performancea) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) — power received from a single device

• Typical range is around -44dbm (good) to -140dbm (bad)• The closer the number is to 0, the better the signal• Anything below -120 dBm was not considered

b) Downlink Throughput — speed in megabits per second (the higher the better)• Best locations are those with speeds >20 Mbps• Locations showing 10-20 Mbps should work• Locations showing <10 Mbps may not work• Avoid locations that are <5 Mbps

4. N/A - No data available. This does not necessarily indicate poor signal or performance. It simply means that no one ran a network performance test in the area of the location.

Georgia Site SelectionEach site location was defined with signal strength readings and network speeds for the network equipment being deployed.

Bartow County, Georgia Deployment Site Map

Visualizing available locations helped local authorities to define and communicate the locations that met the criteria and had the highest chance of success.


TowerSource by Ookla® is the U.S. tower industry’s largest and most comprehensive independent vertical asset database. With views into tower and other asset locations, TowerSource’s easy to use SaaS platform informs data-backed decisions regarding site evaluation and acquisition, competitor benchmarking, and site portfolio revenue management.

TowerSource™

Wireless networkasset intelligence


Best Technology Available

County Broadband Atlas

County-by-County Scorecard

Areas of Need

scdigitaldrive.com

West Virginia Announces “Most Accurate Broadband Map to Date”


Excerpt – Nov 30, 2020

“Previous broadband availability maps —such as those provided by the FCC — relied on information from carriers and used the speeds they were advertising in an area, not the speeds actually received by consumers

Our first-of-its-kind map instead uses actual speed data from consumers, and the result is now the most accurate, detailed map of where broadband is and is not in the state of West Virginia.”

— Delegate Daniel Linville

The map was completed recently with financial support from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the West Virginia Department of Commerce and state Development Office’s Office of Broadband. Thanks to a grant, the state partnered with Ookla, the developers of www.speedtest.net

Speedtest Custom®

• Put Speedtest directly on your own state or local website

• Embed your test on up to 200 web pages

• Use the global Speedtest Server Network™

• View Snapshot stats for the previous days

• Download individual results

• Link to your own broadband survey

• Use survey to capture reports from no-service areas

Use the power of Speedtest to engage directly with your citizens by encouraging data collection. This configurable, mobile-friendly, HTML5-based testing solution is the industry gold-standard used by major telecommunications companies around the world.

Use Publicity and Social Media to Generate Additional Data

Enlist the public to supplement more testing where neededWe have ready-to-use social media graphics to help drive citizen engagement.

Promote the free Speedtest app on social media platforms to encourage use.

• Maximize the effect of the largest user community • Build on a massive existing database• City and county governments can encourage use• Advocacy groups can involve constituents


En Español

Dougherty County, Georgia (Albany)Outreach for Increased Testing

Governor’s Press Release — June 23rd

Albany Herald July 5th

First week of June

First week of July

82% Increase in Speedtest Measurementscomparing 1st wk Jun to 1st wk July

New Speedtest Feature – Video Testing

• Launched Monday, February 8th, 2021 for iPhones

• Coming soon to Android devices

• Plays video to specifically measure performance of video streaming

• Tests at multiple bitrates from low resolution to high definition

• Informs the user in easy to understand examples how devices will perform with their current level of connectivity


Speedtest Powered — Mobile SDK• Internet connectivity has become a paramount issue

for students to learn from home

• Trigger Speedtest measurements programmatically on Android & iOS

• Prepare for what’s ahead and collect data while respecting privacy and security laws

Distance Learning & the Digital DivideMajor School District Trial Underway

Network Performance Data for State Broadband Initiatives


Bryan DarrVice President, Smart Communities

[email protected]

Rob PerrySales Director, Govt. Accounts

[email protected]

network performance data for state broadband initiatives

Documents