State first to offer broadband speed maps

By Rick Laney
of The Daily Times Staff

Connected Tennessee — a group formed in 2004 to accelerate technology in the state — has released the nation’s first county-by-county reading of average Internet speeds.
Connected Tennessee LLC is an independent nonprofit organization that says it works with a wide array of Tennessee entities to “keep the cost of technology expansion down and the ease of doing business up.” The group tries to accelerate the availability and use of technology towards creating a better business environment, more effective community and economic development, improved health care, enhanced education and more efficient government.
On Friday, Connected Tennessee released its county-based Internet speed map that gives providers of broadband and Tennessee policymakers a more accurate understanding of which Tennessee communities remain in need of higher quality Internet service in order to utilize the latest applications. Connected Tennessee maintains that better Internet services benefit local and state government as well as private industry.
Broadband is the term applied to high-speed data transmission, such as cable, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).
Broadband technologies provide faster connections to the Internet than traditional dial-up services. Broadband services deliver high-speed Internet access to households and businesses while freeing telephone lines for simultaneous traditional (voice) use. Using a broadband service with laptop or desktop PCs, users have high-speed access to the Internet, e-mail and more.
Through a collective effort between SpeedTest.net, the Communications Workers of America’s (CWA) Speed Matters Campaign and Connected Tennessee, the project surveyed more than 86,000 people from Tennessee’s 95 counties.
Although the results have been released, Tennessee residents can continue to update the data by participating in a speed test on Connected Tennessee’s Web site, connectedtennessee.org. Speed tracking provides the state of Tennessee and Connected Tennessee with an accurate reading of the types of speeds being achieved by consumers around the state.
Connected Tennessee has also released maps that provide a detailed picture of where broadband does and does not exist across Tennessee. Tennessee is only the second state to benefit from such detailed and accurate maps of broadband availability.
“The data gathered by Connected Tennessee allows us to see — for the first time — where improvement is needed and work to localize our efforts,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen.
“Technology adoption and economic development go hand in hand, and we want to work to ensure that Tennesseans everywhere can realize the opportunities that are possible when all communities are truly connected.”
The data gathered reveals that the average statewide upload speed is 575 kilobits per second (Kbps) and the average statewide download speed is 3.4 megabits per second (Mbps). This means that the average Tennessean with broadband service can download a typical 1 megabyte document in less than three seconds. For those on dial-up service, the same process would take almost four minutes. Fifteen of Tennessee’s 95 counties registered significantly lower than the average upload speed, while 30 counties fell short of the average download speed.
Blount rated ‘higher’
Blount County was rated “higher” with an average upload speed of 575 to 1,169 Kbps (the same rating as Knox and Sevier counties). Monroe and Loudon counties were rated “lower” with average uploads speeds of 360 to 575 Kbps.
For downloading, Blount County received a rating of “higher” with average download speeds of 3,354 to 5,234 Kbps (the same as Loudon and Sevier counties). Knox County earned a “significantly higher” rating for download speeds while Monroe County received a “significantly lower” rating.
In Blount County, 75 percent of the homes have computers, compared to 71 percent statewide. Internet service is available in 70 percent of Blount County homes (compared to 65 percent statewide) and 45 percent of Blount Countians have broadband service in their homes (compared to 43 percent statewide).
Of the Blount County residents who do not have a computer, 71 percent said it was because they didn’t need one, 8 percent said they were too expensive, 8 percent said they use a computer somewhere other than their home and 17 percent said they have “other” reasons for not owning one.
Of the Blount County residents who said they do not have Internet connection at their home, 55 percent said it was because they have no computer, 21 percent said they didn’t need the Internet, 17 percent said it was too expensive and 13 percent said broadband wasn’t available and they didn’t want dial-up.
U.S. falls to 16th
“The United States has fallen to 16th in the world in terms of access to broadband Internet,” said Noah Savant, vice president of the Communications Workers of America.
“The data collected by the Speed Matters Campaign and Connected Tennessee is designed to encourage the build-out of high-speed networks ultimately to provide not only all Tennesseans, but all Americans with the ability to access the immeasurable benefits afforded by a high-speed connection.”
State Rep. Mark Maddox, co-chairman of the Tennessee Broadband Task Force, said, “The rural areas of our state are lagging behind and warrant the attention of the Task Force and Connected Tennessee — and these maps make that very apparent.”
Connect Tennessee says the data gathered for the maps will help them take steps to improve technology availability and adoption among Tennessee residents and businesses. Connected Tennessee’s mission is to “close the digital divide in Tennessee” by creating and growing a collaborative network among telecommunications and information technology providers, public agencies, business and community leaders, researchers and universities in an effort to meet the five comprehensive goals of Tennessee’s “Trail to Innovation” program.
The Trail to Innovation program promotes:
—Affordable broadband technology for all Tennessee
—Dramatically improved use of computers and the Internet by all Tennesseans
—The formation of eCommunity Leadership Teams in every county — local leaders who assemble to develop and implement technology growth strategies for local government, business and industry, education, health care, agriculture, libraries, tourism and community-based organizations
—A policy and regulatory framework that encourages continued investment in communications and information technologies year after year
—A meaningful online presence for all Tennessee communities to improve citizen services and promote economic development through e-government, virtual education and online health care.