Broadband Readiness Index

Connected Nation unveiled its Broadband Readiness Index which assesses the broadband infrastructure for all 3,219 counties in the United States. The Index shows that counties containing 45.6% of the nation’s households still fall significantly short in meeting National Broadband Plan goals of fixed and mobile broadband access for both current and future needs.

The Index measures how close counties are to reaching each of these goals:

1. Universal Broadband for Today’s Needs: universal access to broadband at 3 Mbps download and 768 Kbps upload speeds, roughly commensurate with the Plan’s National Broadband Availability Target;
2. Mobility: 98% availability of mobile wireless service, proposed by the Wireless Innovation Initiative; and
3. Robust Broadband Markets: 85% availability of access to 50 Mbps fixed networks, which is comparable to the Plan’s goal that 100 million households have access to such networks by 2015.