The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) posted the first public, searchable, and interactive nationwide map of broadband Internet availability on Thursday. It took about $200 million in funding to create the map, which serves up a database of over 25 million documents detailing the type, speed, provider, and location of broadband service across the U.S. You can see from the map that the further west you go, the more spotty the coverage.
“The National Broadband Map shows there are still too many people and community institutions lacking the level of broadband service needed to fully participate in the Internet economy,” said Lawrence Strickling, head of the NTIA.
Up to 10 percent of U.S. homes, most of which are in rural areas, don’t have access to basic broadband, the map reveals. At the same time, broadband adoption has increased to 68 percent of U.S. homes, up from 63.5 percent in 2009.
You can view the interactive map here.
