Biden announces $40bn broadband fund… these states with fastest and slowest internet in America

President Joe Biden has pledged that every American will have access to high-speed internet by 2030 by allocating $42.5 billion in funding to states.

Biden held a briefing on Monday to discuss the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, or BEAD, which was approved by Congress in 2021 through the infrastructure bill.

The amount each state receives depends on the number of unserved locations and jurisdictions without internet speeds above 100 Mbps.

Texas, which is among the top 10 fastest, will receive the most funding at $3.1 billion and California, which ranks 50th, will receive the second highest – $1.9 billion.

Figures compiled by Wise Voter show that Maryland, Virginia and DC have the highest speeds nationwide, while the lowest speeds are in Montana, South Dakota and California.

Internet speeds are based on several explanations, such as people with higher incomes being more likely to buy faster service packages, and providers offering higher bandwidth services in more affluent cities than in poorer areas.

Funds allocated range from $27 million to more than $3.3 billion, with each state receiving a minimum of $107 million.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said: “We have a historic opportunity here to really make a difference in people’s lives and make sure we live up to that potential, that’s what we stand for every day and to make sure people feel that on their kitchen table, in their community, in their backyard.’

Zients compared the broadband efforts to President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1936 efforts to bring electricity to rural America.

Broadband companies such as Verizon, Comcast, Charter Communications and AT&T have been reluctant to provide access to low-density rural communities because the investment is expensive and the regions do not offer many subscribers.

The lack of broadband access drew attention during COVID shutdowns that forced students into online education.

States are expected to submit initial plans later this year to release 20 percent of the funding.

The remaining funds will be released once plans are finalized, which could take until 2025.

Under the program’s rules, states must prioritize connecting mostly unserved areas before boosting service in underserved areas or those without 100 Mbps/20 Mbps internet speeds and community anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries.

Figures compiled by Wise Voter show that Maryland, Virginia and DC have the fastest speeds nationwide, while the lowest speeds are in Montana, South Dakota and California

Wise Voter provided data on the average download speed of each US state, which is calculated by taking the speeds of all towns and cities.

Maryland is the top state with the fastest internet, which is due in part to Verizon rolling out high-speed fiber broadband internet service statewide in April.

This initiative gave nearly 4,000 new homes and businesses in Charles, Garrett, Cecil, Howard, St. Mary’s and Washington Counties access to the Fios network.

This rural broadband project was built in partnership with the State of Maryland and the FCC to provide high-speed fiber broadband service (with symmetrical download and upload speeds between 300 Mbps and 2 Gbps) to residents of rural parts of the state.

The entire state of Maryland averages 506.70 Mbps.

Virginia is second with 505.60 Mbps, Washington DC has 473.80 Mbps, and Delaware is third in the US with 469.70 Mbps.

Washington state has an average of 451 Mbps, Rhode Island has 433.30 Mbps, and Pennsylvania has the seventh fastest, with 430.80 Mbps.

New Jersey ranks eighth with 427.80 Mbps, followed by Texas with 425.90 Mbps and Georgia with 414.90 Mbps.

Wise chooser ranked California with the slowest average internet speed in the US, at just 93 Mbps.

Reports show that 301 school districts in the state have slow internet speeds – that’s about 940 in total.

The University of California found that 25 percent of the state’s 39 million people do not have internet access and 10 percent rely on a cell phone connection.

However, San Francisco has an average download speed of 232.5 Mbps and San Jose, where Silicon Valley is located, has 180.5 Mbps.

Montana is 50th at 100.5 Mbps, South Dakota at 191.7 Mbps, and Iowa at 193.9 Mbps.

Alaska has long been ranked last in the US, but its speeds have dramatically improved over the past two years, possibly due to Elon Musk’s Starlink going live in 2022.