News
A refresh of Microsoft’s ‘Digital Equity Data Dashboard’ gives a new look at efforts to crush the digital divide, showing the most-improved U.S. states and territories in several metrics.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Puerto Rico was the only American state or territory to appear in the top five of three key categories highlighted by the newly refreshed Microsoft Digital Equity Data Dashboard.
The territory, which was devastated by Category 4 Hurricane Maria in 2017, ranked at the top of Microsoft’s list for most-improved connectivity among all states and territories. Puerto Rico also featured third on the list of most-improved with household broadband subscriptions, and third on another list showing the most-improved states and territories in the realm of digital devices, like laptops and desktop computers.
The lists, published in a recent blog post on Microsoft’s website, have pulled together data from the FCC, the United States Census Bureau, Code.org, Broadband Now, and Microsoft, according to Microsoft’s Oct. 16 blog post.
Across the board, “all states, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, saw an increase in the number of households with broadband connections as well as an increase in the number of households with laptops or desktops,” Microsoft’s blog post stated.
According to Microsoft, the greatest improvements were seen among low-income households earning less than $20,000 annually.
“These households saw an average increase of over 10.8 percentage points in internet connectivity compared to previous metrics, meaning there are nearly 325,000 more households connected in this group,” Microsoft’s post continued.
Among states and territories that showed the greatest improvement in connectivity, after Puerto Rico, were Arkansas, a number two, followed by Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.
Microsoft’s list for states and territories with the most improvement in the metric of households with broadband featured Arkansas in the top spot.
After Arkansas, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Idaho, and Tennessee rounded out the top five.
The company’s blog post also published the top five states and territories with the greatest improvement around digital devices, with the District of Columbia ranking at the top.
After Washington D.C., Delaware, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, and Texas completed the top five.
Government data shows that 23.4 million people remain without access to reliable, high-speed internet, according to the Microsoft dashboard, which was launched in 2022 as part of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative.
Globally, according to Microsoft, there remain 2.6 billion people who are still offline.
“We’ve committed to reaching 250 million people with meaningful connectivity by the end of next year,” Microsoft’s blog post read. “Today, we’re calling for continued support and collaboration from all sectors to ensure no one is left behind. We call on all stakeholders to join us in this mission.”
How is the US connectivity landscape shifting in 2024? Join the operators and their communities in discussion at Broadband Communities Summit West live in San Diego.
