Hasta La Gadget!

A new study by the Pew Center attempts to map broadband penetration across the United States, part of the first step toward improving it.

“States increasingly are viewing broadband as a way to gain a
competitive advantage in a tough global economy,” said Susan Urahn,
managing director, Pew Center on the States, in a statement.  “They face three key
challenges: expanding availability of broadband, encouraging people to
use it and ensuring high-quality service. Just about every policy area
that states manage could be affected by expanding this technology.
States’ efforts will play a pivotal role in whether the new national
broadband plan succeeds.”

The report attempts to describe how close states actually are to the minimum standards put in place by the Federal Communications Commission as part of the national broadband plan. One concern: bringing broadband to rural states.

The report, Bringing America Up to Speed: States’ Role in Expanding Broadband,
found that several states, including California, Maine, North Carolina
and Pennsylvania, have been focused for years on availability, adoption
and quality of broadband technology, but the majority are trying to catch
up. 

After the jump, how far along each state is toward the plan’s goal. Unfortunately, however, the data was collected in 2008, the last time the FCC sampled the data.