98 Percent of Americans Are Connected to High-Speed Wireless Internet

President Barack Obama announced that we've reached our major broadband connectivity goal -- 98 percent of Americans nationwide are now connected to high-speed wireless Internet, surpassing any point in history.

"Four years ago, I set a national goal to provide 98 percent of Americans with high-speed wireless Internet so that any young scientist or entrepreneur could access the world’s information," the President said. "Today, I can announce that we have achieved that goal, and we did it ahead of schedule." The President also announced that he’s creating a new team called the Broadband Opportunity Council, which will be co-chaired by the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Agriculture and made up of leaders across government who will work with businesses and communities to invest in next-generation Internet nationwide. This includes a special focus on rural and underserved Americans. More than $7 billion of Recovery Act funding went to increasing broadband connectivity to underserved areas, and we have installed or upgraded more than 174,000 miles of high-speed broadband infrastructure. Finally, the White House will carry forward this momentum by hosting the Community Broadband Summit this June. The summit will help connect community leaders so they can learn from one another and hear about our progress on other broadband initiatives.