Pew Center on the States Highlights Importance of State Agencies in Broadband

WASHINGTON June 30, 2010-The Pew Center on the States has just released a report on the importance of state government involvement in broadband. In essence the report aims to show the varied efforts that the states are making to expand broadband. Additionally they give a brief explanation of why the national purposes set out by the National Broadband Plan are important.

The report was assembled with assistance from the Public Policy Institute of California and the Internet & American Life Project.  The report comes to the conclusion that if the United States does not increase its broadband availability it will fall behind economically and that the states are each trying to solve the problem of availability in unique ways.  Additionally the funds made available via the Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program and the Broadband Data Improvement Act will allow the states to expand broadband.

The report then goes onto list a number of state projects including the e-NC Authority which was the first state created broadband agency in 2000. The e-NC Authority is charged with maintaining broadband availability, adoption and usage statistics. Additionally the authority helps provide broadband access to 158,000 residents and runs a number of telecenters for business use.

Some of the more interesting graphics from the report include the following exhibit which displays broadband speeds.

This second graphic displays the level of connectivity across the nation.

The full report can be found at: www.pewcenteronthestates.org/broadband