SNG Releases “50 States of Broadband” Report
February 7, 2017Uncovering State-by-State Broadband Activities and Investments
UPDATE: In February of 2017 SNG provided an update to this report.
Today in conjunction with the Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC), Strategic Networks Group (SNG) released its first of its kind report on broadband investment and activity by American States. The report, available at sngroup.com/states combines FCC availability and adoption figures with SNG’s survey results of 48 states to rank states on the following dimensions: Availability, Adoption, Driving Meaningful Use, Growth Investment, and Regulation.
“We put a great deal of time into determining the dimensions and how to measure each,” explains Michael Curri, SNG’s Founder and President. “There’s so much more to being competitive in a digital economy than merely providing fiber/higher speeds.”
Ranking each state with a weight for each category yielded the following as the top 5 states in terms of broadband; New York, Ohio, Maine, New Mexico, and New Hampshire.
Some highlights of the findings include:
- 52% of states have an office dedicated to broadband
- Only a little more than a quarter (28%) definitely have a budget to fund broadband initiatives
- Activities most often funded by states are “planning and support” (82% of funded states) and infrastructure (45%).
“One overall finding that was interesting is that investment activities seem to be heavily weighted towards the “supply” of broadband and include mapping, infrastructure planning, and grants, surpassing economic development activities that impact economic advancement including raising awareness, training, and driving end-user utilization,” explains Curri.
Key contributors to this initiative were:
- Doug Adams, Strategic Networks Group
- Michael Curri, Strategic Networks Group
- Lori Sherwood, Vantage Point Solutions
- Gary Dunmore, Strategic Networks Group
- Monica Babine, Washington State University
- Maria Alvarez-Stroud, University of Wisconsin-Extension
About Strategic Networks Group (SNG)
Founded in 1998, Strategic Networks Group (SNG) helps communities and regions transform local economic opportunities, quality of life, and access to essential services through broadband and digital infrastructure. For nearly two decades Strategic Networks Group has been helping communities and regions focus on the ‘demand side’ of broadband, digital infrastructure, and transformation because benefits are the drivers for technology investments – such as a municipality saving 86% in telecommunication and internet costs. SNG is agnostic to technology and network business models which are the ‘supply side’ of broadband. Our mission is to help communities and regions get the best value for their ratepayers from technology investments and to maximize sustainable economic development opportunities in an increasingly digital world. Learn more about SNG at www.sngroup.com.
About Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC)
The Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC) is a national membership organization dedicated to assuring that rural areas in the United States have access to the information and support they need to obtain and use advanced telecommunications services and technology for social and economic development. Visit RTC online at www.ruraltelecon.org.
If you would like to download the entire report, click here>>
For questions, clarification, or to make sure your state is fully represented in our study, email states@sngroup.com.