Research

The top-tier countries of Net Vitality 3.0 are the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands. These countries encompass what it means to lead in the current Internet ecosystem. Their Net Vitality Index scores of 24, 24, and 21 represent the top 1 percent of countries evaluated in the Net Vitality 3.0 report. Since the release of Net Vitality 2.0 in 2018, the United States has been the only country to maintain top-tier status.

The State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) released its third annual State EdTech Trends survey and report.

In 2011, Community Networks built our first map showing where community-owned networks were around the United States. At the time, it aimed to illustrate what we knew to be true: that more than a hundred communities were choosing to fill the local broadband marketplace by building and/or operating their own networks.

The 2024 State EdTech Trends survey and report tracks insights on the top edtech priorities as identified in SETDA’s survey of state policy-makers including state edtech directors, state superintendents and commissioners of education and CIOs. The report includes four key findings:

This annual report on the U.S. Microbusiness Activity Index (MAI) provides an update on microbusinesses, incorporating data up to March 2024. It covers the national, states, metropolitan areas, and counties. Highlights include:

Demand for wireless data continued to skyrocket in 2023, with Americans using more than 100 trillion MBs—enough data for every single U.S. household to watch the first season of House of the Dragon every day for the entire year. 100T MB of data is nearly double the amount of data used just two years ago and represents the largest single-year increase in wireless data ever—26 trillion MBs—a 36% increase over 2022. In fact, Americans used more wireless data in 2023 than they did from 2010 to 2018 combined.

On September 6, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission launched its latest (and 18th overall, if you're scoring at home) inquiry into the state of broadband in the United States.

In 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Census Bureau began an experimental project to study the feasibility of—and ultimately to produce—estimates of Internet adoption for small, sub-state areas during a single year to address this knowledge gap and better serve the policymaking process. Using techniques that have been successfully employed in other data products, Census Bureau experts are combining existing data from key household surveys with auxiliary data that are known to correlate with Internet adoption rates.

FarrPoint's International Digital Connectivity Readiness Index (DCRI) measures performance in both digital infrastructure and digital adoption. Overall, the United States ranks joint 2nd in the G7 for Digital Connectivity Readiness. The US ranks 6th in digital infrastructure, leading in 4G and 5G but struggling with broadband and Gigabit coverage. On adoption, it ranks 3rd, excelling in the Digital Economy, innovation and public services but facing challenges with Digital Skills, Security, and affordability. However, the US faces challenges in other aspects of digital adoption.

With home working becoming ubiquitous, along with internet gaming and video streaming, a stable and dependable network is more important than ever. Alongside price, reliability is the key metric driving consumers’ decisions when choosing an internet connection—lightning-fast marketed speeds are irrelevant without a stable connection to use them. This report uses Opensignal’s new Broadband Reliability Experience metric to quantify the real-world experience of our U.S. fixed broadband users. Key findings include: