As the Biden/Harris administration continues to seek and build support for its $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, the White House issued a series of report cards for individual states, grading their overall infrastructure and outlining weaknesses in specific categories, including broadband.
The report cards – or fact sheets, as the White House is calling them – would not delight any of these states or regions' parents, with no one scoring above a C+. The most common grade of C- was earned by a plurality of states including California, New York, Ohio, Alabama, Alaska, Indiana and others.
The lowest infrastructure grades of D+ went to Mississippi and New Jersey; as well as Puerto Rico with a D-.
On access to broadband specifically, here's how some of the states scored:
Bottom of the class:
- Mississippi: By the numbers, 26% of Mississippians live in areas where "there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds." Some 50.1% of Mississippians live in areas with only one high-speed Internet provider; and 23% of Mississippi households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Arkansas: 27% of Arkansas residents live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 54% have access to just one Internet provider; and 20% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Alaska: 24.5% of Alaskans live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 68.8% have access to just one Internet provider; and 12% of Alaskan households don't have an Internet subscription.
- New Mexico: 22% of New Mexico residents live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 68.9% have access to just one Internet provider; and 21% of New Mexico households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Puerto Rico: Over 13% of Puerto Ricans live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 68.8% have access to just one Internet provider; and nearly 40% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
Top* of the class (*with much room for improvement...):
- Washington: 8.49% of Washintonians live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 53.82% have access to just one Internet provider; and 8.8% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Colorado: 12.1% of Coloradans live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 38.1% have access to just one Internet provider; and 9% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Utah: 9.25% of Utahns live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 54.35% have access to just one Internet provider; and 9.2% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
- California: 5.5% of Californians live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 59.2% have access to just one Internet provider; and 10% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
- Maryland: 3.8% of Marylanders live in areas with no minimally acceptable broadband; 34.5% have access to just one Internet provider; and 10.9% of households don't have an Internet subscription.
The fact sheets are designed to promote the American Jobs Plan, which proposes investing $100 billion to deliver "universal, reliable, high-speed, and affordable" broadband to everyone in the country. Currently, there are several broadband bills floating around in Congress ranging from the $15 billion American Broadband Buildout Act to the $80 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act. Negotiations on the infrastructure package are expected to continue through the spring and summer.
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— Nicole Ferraro, contributing editor and host of "The Divide" and "What's the Story?" Light Reading
