Google’s Vint Cerf touts broadband measurement tools

“Nothing happens unless somebody isn’t contented with the status quo,” Cerf said. “I hope there is a certain amount of discontent generated by this data and it drives better quality” broadband connections.

Cerf said the largest data samples have come from California and Texas, “probably because there are a lot of geeks in both those places.” He demonstrated the tools using a chart of broadband speeds in Texas, which showed the city of Garland on top and Dallas on the bottom.

Federal Communications Commission geographic information officer Michael Byrne called the data and visualization tools “fantastic” and praised stakeholders for making such a large amount of data consumable and easy.

But Anne Neville, director of the broadband mapping program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said it would be a challenge to get through all of the data in a responsible way.

“With big data comes big responsibility,” Neville said, in a nod to the movie “Spiderman.”