Broadband Availability at Higher Speed Tiers Increases, Widens Speed Gap
By Anne Byers, Nebraska Information Technology Commission
In 2016, broadband of 100 Mbps down or greater was available to 71% of Nebraskans, up from 63% in 2014. This is great news to Nebraskans living in areas in which these higher speed tiers are available. However, the widening speed gap between those with access to very high speed broadband and the estimated 11% of Nebraskans who do not even have broadband of 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up available is a source of increasing dissatisfaction and frustration for those lacking broadband access. See the table below for more information on the availability of 100 Mbps broadband in Nebraska and the U.S.
Gigiabit broadband is also growing and will only exacerbate the broadband speed gap. In 2016, gigabit broadband was available to 17% of Nebraskans, up from 14.5% in 2014. Nebraska ranked 6th in the deployment of gigabit broadband, besting the U.S. average of 7.6% of Americans having gigabit broadband available. The table below provides additional information on the availability of gigabit broadband in Nebraska and in the U.S.
