New York has the most favorable conditions for broadband deployment and adoption of 48 U.S. states, according to a new survey. The survey about state broadband policies was conducted by Strategic Networks Group (SNG) and Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC).
SNG is a business that measures how broadband is used by individual businesses, organizations and households. RTC is a non-profit organization focused on rural broadband issues.
Just behind New York on the list of states with the most positive broadband policies were Ohio, Maine, New Mexico and New Hampshire. The state with the least positive policies was Texas, which ranked just below Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana.
The survey about state broadband policies based its findings on five categories of factors, including broadband availability, adoption, driving meaningful use, growth investment and regulation.
The broadband availability and adoption data came from the FCC. A state’s ranking on “meaningful use” was determined by its broadband training/ education programs and whether the state tracks or estimates the social and economic benefits of broadband.
The “growth investment” category considered factors such as whether a state has a statewide broadband office, whether funds are available for broadband initiatives, the amount of those funds and the investment per capita.
The “regulation” category looked at any restrictions that states have limiting municipal or other ownership or operation of broadband networks.
State Broadband Policies
Other highlights of the SNG/RTC state broadband policies research:
- Just over half of states have a broadband office. These offices average 3.8 employees.
- 28% of respondents said their state has an annual budget for broadband, while 42% said such funding did not exist and 30% were unsure.
- Of the 13 states that reported their broadband budget, only two – California ($330 million) and New York ($500 million) — had large budgets. The average funding for the other 11 states is just under $600,000 annually.
- Only 8 states reported measuring economic and social benefits of broadband.
