Robert Anderson equates Rhode Island’s broadband network to a high-speed highway system without any road signs or maps.

As companies and state officials seek to expand the state’s online freeway they operate without basic information, such as the availability and speeds of Internet connections. That makes it awfully hard to pitch a business plan or secure a grant, said Anderson, CEO of Barrington-based WindTalk, a company that works to bring broadband to rural areas across the country.

In response to the dearth of available information, WindTalk created its own map of Rhode Island broadband connections. But Anderson said not everyone can do that. Hence, a stimulus-funded project by the R.I. Economic Development Corporation to collect and verify the availability, speed and location of broadband across Rhode Island should help fill that void, Anderson said. The Rhode Island Broadband Mapping Program will also provide another tool to economic officials as they attempt to woo companies with big technology needs to the state.

“It’s import to understand what the landscape looks like,” Anderson said. “It’s very important from a standpoint of understanding how to leverage infrastructure and grow an economy.”

The $1.5 million in federal money comes in two parts: $1 million to develop a map, with the remaining $500,000 to support five years of broadband-planning activities.

The money was awarded by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which plans to create a national broadband map by February 2011.

EDC spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said that as of Jan. 6 the agency had yet to select a contractor to undertake the mapping. EDC staff in charge of the project did not immediately return calls seeking comment last week.

Anderson, whose company submitted a bid for the mapping project, thinks the final map will show what is already well-known in industry circles: that Rhode Island has excellent broadband coverage thanks primarily to Cox Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.

A spokeswoman for Cox said the company already is available to 98 percent of the state’s homes. And a spokeswoman for Verizon said it can service 99 percent of the state with either DSL or FiOS, the company’s high-speed Internet service. What remains, both spokeswomen said, was improving access for people that may sit near a high-speed line but do not tap into it for economic, technological or other reasons.