Nebraska Lags US in Broadband Availability, Says Draft State Report
Nebraska residents are falling behind other Americans on broadband, says the Nebraska Rural Broadband Task Force Thursday. Comments are due Oct. 10, before the task force meets to approve the report Oct. 18, says the group’s website. Eighty-nine percent of…
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Nebraskans, and 63 percent in its rural areas, have fixed broadband of at least 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, compared to 94 percent in the U.S. and 76 percent of rural Americans. Mobile broadband is available to 83 percent of all Nebraskans and 56 percent of rural Nebraskans, vs. 89 and 69 percent respectively. Enhance broadband mapping and data collection, the task force recommends: "Current state and federal broadband mapping efforts likely overstate broadband coverage.” Nebraska’s map uses FCC Form 477 data, but this "census block reporting can overstate broadband availability in large census blocks,” it says. Rural areas could benefit from emerging technologies, but “5G will likely be deployed first in urban areas, potentially exacerbating the speed gap,” the draft says. The Public Service Commission should continue efforts to revamp state USF contribution and "improve provider accountability by moving to a grant-like system of distribution,” and consider reverse auction, it says. Give E-rate matching funds through state USF to incentivize fiber to schools and libraries, and encourage them to “implement programs such as Wi-Fi on buses, hotspot lending programs, low cost pay-by-the-month internet access, or TV White Space deployments," it says. An Ohio report last week also found coverage gaps (see 1909260008).