CWA’s annual Speed Matters report on Internet speeds in the United States indicates little progress has been made since the report was first issued in 2007.

This year’s Speed Matters report shows that between 2009 and 2010, the median download Internet speed in the United States has increased by only 0.5 megabits per second (mbps) from 2.5 mbps in 2009 to 3.0 mbps this year, while the median upload speed has barely increased from 487 kbps to 595 kbps.

At this rate, it will take the United States 60 years to catch up with current Internet speeds in South Korea, the country with the fastest Internet connections. The number of years to reach South Korea’s current standards has quadrupled from last year, as improvements are being made at a rapid rate there and progress in the United States has been fairly stagnant.

Northeastern states topped the chart again this year, with many western and southern states staying on the bottom. The five fastest states according to the study are: Delaware (13.4 mbps), Massachusetts (9.3 mbps), New Jersey (8.6 mbps), Maryland (7.6 mbps) and New York (7.5 mbps). Among the slowest states were: Montana (1.2 mbps), Wyoming (1.5 mbps), Arkansas (2.3 mbps) and Mississippi (2.4 mbps).

“Speed Matters on the Internet, enabling innovations in telemedicine, education, economic development, energy conservation, and job creation,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

“Today’s results highlight the need for investment in higher speed broadband networks to support America’s critical applications. That’s why moving forward on the National Broadband Plan is our top priority at the FCC.”

Lack of access to high-speed Internet reflects a persistent digital divide among Americans. Geography and income too often indicate whether someone has access to high-speed Internet.

In urban and suburban areas, 70 percent of households subscribe to broadband, with only 50 percent of rural households subscribing to the service. For Americans who make more than $75,000 a year, 87 percent get broadband while only 45 percent of Americans that earn less than $30,000 subscribe.

The CWA says it supports the plan announced by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to develop rules to protect an open Internet. It looks to the FCC to set rules in polices that will encourage investment, reasonable network management, maintain transparency, promote media diversity and lead to the growth of good jobs in the telecommunications industry.

Julius Genachowski
FCC Chairman

In the past, the U.S. has missed a number of opportunities to set an effective, national policy that would promote the deployment of broadband networks. The CWA maintains that such a policy is critical to economic growth and boosting the economy.

Currently the U.S. ranks 15th in broadband penetration globally and 26th in broadband speeds.

"The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, job creation, investment, and opportunity. It has unleashed the potential of entrepreneurs and enabled the launch and growth of small businesses across America," said Chairman Genachowski. 

"It is vital that we safeguard the free and open Internet."
 

The Speed Matters Speed Test, a project of the CWA, measures the speed of a user’s Internet connection. The 2009 Speed Test found that only 20 percent of those who took the test have Internet speeds in the range of the top ranked countries including South Korea, Japan and Sweden. In addition, 18 percent do not meet the FCC definition for basic broadband as an always-on Internet connection of at least 768 kbps downstream.

The data revealed where a user lives is a good indicator of Internet connection speed. Users who live in a Northeastern or Mid-Atlantic state, are most likely to have a good high-speed Internet options. The fastest five states are: Delaware (9.9 mbps), Rhode Island (9.8 mbps), New Jersey (8.9 mbps), Massachusetts (8.6 mbps) and New York (8.4 mbps).

Users in Southern or Western states are less likely to have access to high-speed Internet. Mississippi (3.7 mbps), South Carolina (3.6 mbps), Arkansas (3.1 mbps), Idaho (2.6 mbps) and Alaska (2.3 mbps) have some of the slowest Internet connection speeds.

Larry Cohen
President, Communications
Workers of America

"Every American should have affordable access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they live. This is essential to economic growth and will help maintain our global competitiveness," said Larry Cohen, president, Communications Workers of America.

"Unfortunately, fragmented government programs and uneven private sector responses to build out Internet access have left a digital divide across the country."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act calls for a national broadband plan by spring 2010 and $7.2 billion in broadband grants for unserved and underserved areas. The CWA says a national plan to improve America’s Internet connections speeds should:

Establish a national policy goal: A reasonable initial goal would be to construct an infrastructure with enough capacity for 10 megabits per second (mbps) downstream and 1 mbps upstream by 2010. New benchmarks in succeeding years should expand the number of households capable of sending and receiving multiple channel high-definition video and reach the global standard of 100 mbps.

Encourage Public-Private Partnerships: Successful efforts-like ConnectOhio-to increase America’s Internet speeds and capacity are important. These kinds of efforts are well-suited to assess needs, create state broadband maps and technology plans and share knowledge about successful initiatives. If encouraged, they can help simulate high-speed broadband demand, deployment and adoption nationwide.

Reform Universal Service: We need subsidies, low-interest loans, and tax incentives to support broadband deployment in high-cost rural areas, and help make computers and Internet access more affordable for low-income families.
 

Monitor Progress: Broadband public policies should support the growth of good, career jobs as a key to providing quality Internet service and require public reporting of deployment, actual speed, price and customer service benchmarks.

"Improving broadband deployment, connection speeds, and adoption will help facilitate job and business growth," said Cohen.

"By continuing these efforts we can make sure that America benefits from the information age."
 

The report is based on data from 230,000 Internet users who took the online Speed Matters Speed Test, a project of the CWA. The test found the median download speed in the U.S. is 2.3 megabits per second (mbps). Estimates show average download speeds in Japan of 63 mbps, in South Korea 49 mbps and in France 17 mbps.

A multimedia file that takes four minutes to download in South Korea would take close to an hour and a half to download in the U.S.

"This isn’t about how fast someone can download a full-length movie. Speed matters to our economy and our ability to remain competitive in a global marketplace," said Larry Cohen, president, Communications Workers of America. "Rural development, telemedicine and distance learning all rely on truly high-speed, universal networks."

The top five states with the fastest Internet download speeds include Rhode Island (6.8 mbps), Delaware (6.7 mbps), New Jersey (5.8 mbps), Virginia (5.0 mbps) and Massachusetts (4.6 mbps).

The states with the slowest speeds include Idaho (1.3 mbps), Wyoming (1.3 mbps), Montana (1.3 mbps), North Dakota (1.2 mbps) and Alaska (0.8 mbps).

A full list of states can be viewed at speedmatters.org.

"We are the only industrialized nation without a national policy to promote universal, high-speed Internet access — and it shows," added Cohen. "Most of our Speed Test users logged on with broadband connections such as DSL, cable modem or fiber. People with dial-up connections didn’t take the test because it took them too long, so even these dismal statistics paint a rosier-than-reality picture of connection speeds across the country."