(NAFB) – A new broadband mapping tool released by the White House Thursday shows the need for rural broadband.
The Indicators of Broadband Need map indicates areas of need by marking them red. The tool unsurprisingly marks much of the U.S. land area, particularly rural areas, as in need of broadband. Except for city-centers, states like Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Texas, among many others, are largely identified as areas in need.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says the mapping tool “paints a sobering view of the challenges facing far too many Americans as they try to connect to high-speed broadband.”
The map contains data aggregated at the county, census tract, and census block level from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Communications Commission, and internet speed testing providers. The data classifies areas of need by locations that lack the FCC’s current benchmark for fixed broadband service of 25 megabits per second download, three upload.