How Fast is Rural Internet? Consumers Are Asked to Fill in the Gaps

A collaboration of three national rural nonprofits hopes to create a more accurate picture for researchers and advocates to use to see how their communities measure up. The TestIT smartphone app invites rural residents to participate in the effort, identifying current broadband speed and service gaps in underserved communities. The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) is partnering with the National Association of Counties (NACo) and Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) on the project. The app was developed with the Measurement Lab, a private initiative that includes industry leaders like Google, nonprofits like New America’s Open Technology Project, and researchers like Princeton University’s Planet Lab. The data through the tests collected will be shared publicly.