Polk Broadband Plan | Page 25

POLK COUNTY BROADBAND PLAN Table 4. Data for Broadband Planning Data Source Data Utilization • Socioeconomic data (age, race, income, education, employment) • U.S. Census Bureau • Bureau of Labor Statistics • Bureau of Economic and Business Research Data will be used to gain an understanding of the general socioeconomic characteristics of the region in order to provide background for the broadband planning project. • Business and population growth projections • Local/regional planning agencies/departments • Bureau of Economic and Business Research Projected future business and population growth will be a factor in estimating future broadband needs. • Future Land Use • Local governments • Regional Planning Councils Used to project future broadband needs; can be included in a land-use-based broadband demand model. • Community Anchor Institutions, employment clusters, and target industries • Local/regional planning agencies/departments • Economic development organizations • Regional Planning Councils Community Anchor Institutions, employment clusters, and target industries are the region’s main largescale current and future broadband users. Identifying them will be helpful for the assessment of current and future broadband needs. • Broadband assets inventory (wireline, wireless, vertical assets, providers, public-owned spectrums, policies and regulations, funding opportunities) • Broadband Florida • National Broadband Map project • Local broadband providers • Local government entities (school boards, etc.) The region’s existing broadband assets form the core network on which to build future broadband infrastructure. Reviewing these assets is an important step in defining broadband planning resources and strategies. • Broadband utilization/ penetration data (residential and nonresidential) (speeds, applications, cost) • Future broadband needs (residential and nonresidential) • Surveys • Focused discussions/ interviews • Public workshops • Economic development groups • Federal Communication Commission Current utilization and penetration data and projections of future utilization will be used to identify appropriate strategies for the planning project. 23