TechNet ranked U.S. states based on how well they're integrating...
TechNet ranked U.S. states based on how well they're integrating broadband into their state economies. The tech association looked at “indicators of broadband adoption, network quality, and economic structure as a way of taking stock of where states stand” to…
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create the ranking, according to the December 2012 State Broadband Index report (http://xrl.us/bn4ytp). The top five states are Washington, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland and California and the worst five are New Mexico, Louisiana, Hawaii, Alaska and Arkansas. Washington’s top spot comes from “an economy that has a strong orientation toward ICTs [information and communications technologies] and apps development” and an economic structure that includes Microsoft, Amazon and T-Mobile, the report said. Utah has the highest home broadband adoption rate at 80 percent and ranks ninth on the index list. The report encourages executive and legislative leadership, state funding, cooperation and planning as key ways to successfully expand good broadband networks. In 2003, 15 percent of homes subscribed to broadband compared to 68 percent in 2012, TechNet said. It includes case studies of states like California, where it highlights what it counts as positive laws, and Missouri, where it nods to Google Fiber, to spotlight what drives broadband adoption and buildout and what doesn’t. “The diversity of state approaches is undoubtedly a virtue, as states search for models on how to encourage broadband in a fairly new arena for them,” TechNet said. “At the same time, building the capacity to learn lessons across states is crucially important.” TechNet’s members include AT&T, Apple, T-Mobile, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other major companies.