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Billed as an alternative to the FCC’s National Broadband Map, a directory of broadband audits published by Ready.net “establishes the ground truth of America’s broadband reality.”
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Using the results of “broadband audits” across the United States, Ready.net has collected geographic data, information about available internet speeds, and demographic data to determine areas that are “likely or arguably” underserved or unserved.
The results, which offer a stark contrast with the FCC’s reported data, are presented via an interactive map on the Ready.net website. Ready.net has advertised their resource as an alternative to the FCC’s Fabric dataset, which catalogs the availability of broadband for the federal government.
Compared to the FCC’s National Broadband Map, the Ready.net interactive map displays the U.S. as a patchwork of served, underserved, and unserved locations.
For example, in Hyde County, North Carolina, where the FCC’s map reports 100 percent coverage of fixed broadband services, the Ready.net map reports a county that is 81.7 percent unserved and 18.1 percent underserved.
Similarly, in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, 90.7 percent of the county is listed as unserved despite the county’s 100 percent coverage representation on the FCC’s National Broadband Map for fixed broadband.
A disclaimer with the Ready.net map stated that Ready.net staff are “in the process of collecting first-hand data about broadband quality across the United States.”
“Until the data collection process is complete, we are combining information from a variety of data sources, including multiple speed-test sites, FCC’s Form 477 data, and more, to paint a more accurate picture of the ground reality in America,” the disclaimer stated.
The top 10 most unserved and underserved states
According to Ready.net data, the most underserved and unserved states are as follows:
- Alaska (36.6%)
- Montana (29.1%)
- West Virginia (26.3%)
- Wyoming (22.8%)
- Vermont (21.3%)
- Idaho (20.7%)
- Mississippi (19.9%)
- New Mexico (18.6%)
- Wisconsin (18.4%)
- Louisiana (17.3%)
The top 10 least unserved and underserved states
Ready.net data reported the following states as the least unserved and underserved:
- Rhode Island (0.6%)
- Connecticut (0.7%) / New Jersey (0.7%)
- Massachusetts (0.8%)
- North Dakota (1.8%)
- New York (2.5%)
- Delaware (2.7%)
- Maryland (3.0%)
- Hawaii (3.4%)
- Nevada (3.7%)
- California (4.3%)
While not listed above, due to lack of statehood, Washington D.C. had the lowest percentage of underserved and unserved locations of any administrative area on the map, with 0.1 percent of locations underserved or unserved, according to Ready.net.
For a full list of unserved and underserved percentages by state and territory, click here to visit the Ready.net Broadband Serviceable Locations in America interactive map. The Ready.net website presents data at the state, county, city, and tribal community level, with the most recent data reported as from Feb. 2024.
According to Ready.net, the site’s map will become more accurate with time as more data is collected.
