Duluth, Minnesota has turned to Northfield, Minn.-based ID Insight for cutting-edge broadband data in a bid to win Google’s (News - Alert) ultra-high-speed Internet, according to a press release.

In this regard, the northern Minnesota community is partnering with ID Insight and will also receive access to ID Insight’s BroadBand Scout database. This move was in a bid to position Duluth as a trial location for Google Fiber, a new ultra-high-speed broadband network.

ID Insight’s BroadBand Scout is a national broadband usage database, which was created to meet the market demand for internet connectivity and usage statistics for every geographic region in the United States.

Launched in December 2009, BroadBand Scout reports broadband connectivity, usage, and speed down to the Census Block level with a patent-pending survey method that blends metadata extracted from millions of online interactions with overlays of geo-demographic information and analytics.

According to officials with ID Insight, the company is currently licensing BroadBand Scout data to companies, states and communities that are preparing NOFA 2 applications for grant monies from the $7.2 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus program. In other words, BroadBand Scout provides accurate, unbiased connectivity and usage data that will help communities and carriers to complete stimulus proposals – by combining known Internet access information with address-related data.

“By allowing Duluth to give Google a granular look at our community’s current broadband make-up, consumption and actual speeds, ID Insight is really helping us stand out from the competition,” said Don Ness, mayor of Duluth.

According to Adam Elliott, president of ID Insight and who became aware of Duluth’s bid to attract Google Fiber at the Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative conference in November 2009, said that the BroadBand Scout can really help Duluth to provide Google a complete snapshot of the current broadband landscape, and ultimately win the bid as a trial location for Google Fiber.

More and more organizations are now turning to BroadBand Scout for verification of existing data and as a primary data source for state broadband mapping efforts, such as complete looks at information previously only available from cable, wireless and satellite operators and telcos.

In addition, the information provided by BroadBand Scout also provides an efficient, cost-effective way for broadband and wireless carriers to target new areas - primarily for service expansion and better research competitors.