Report: Two-Thirds of Counties Lack High-Speed Access

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published

Almost two thirds (65%) of counties in the U.S. "experience" internet at speeds below the FCC's high-speed definition minimum (25 Mbps downstream). 

The percentage is even higher--77%--in rural America. 

That is according to a new report, "Understanding the True State of Connectivity in America, from the National Association of Counties (NACo), the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), Rural LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), Farm Credit and Land O’Lakes, Inc. 

Those groups say that those low numbers could be due, in part, to the fact that the FCC does not have good data on where broadband is and isn't, something the FCC has conceded. 

The report is based on FCC data as well as an app the groups developed, TestIT, that they say "crowd-sourced real world connectivity" and gives broadband users an accurate read on where there is low or no connectivity. That part of the report was based on more than 100,000 tests in 78% of counties nationwide. 

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.