Less than 10 percent of Pennsylvania meets the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) minimum speed for broadband connectivity, according to a yearlong study from Penn State University.
“The good news is that because we are compiling an overwhelming evidentiary trail there is a general acceptance that we’ve put our finger on a very important and real phenomenon — one that we can now begin to address,” Sascha Meinrath, a technology policy expert and the Palmer Chairperson in Telecommunications in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, said. “Nobody’s out there saying these hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tests are wrong.”
The difference between actual and advertised broadband speeds in the state is large in many areas. This hampers many businesses, especially farms, Meinrath said, noting that infrastructure investments would enhance broadband access.
Meinrath is co-founder of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), a global research platform that provides information on broadband connectivity. Anyone with internet access can use the lab’s internet measurement tools to measure their computers’ connectivity.
The FCC has used M-Lab to determine the nation’s official broadband speeds and to establish a standard for broadband data measurement.
M-Lab is funded through donations. A $50,000 grant from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania was awarded to Meinrath as a faculty member of Penn State University.