Mapping the Gap Between Broadband Access and Broadband Subscription

The Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings has released a new report that maps our digital broadband access and subscription around the country. The big takeaway from the report: many Americans that have access to broadband are not subscribed.

Fred Dews writes an article to introduce the "Signs of digital distress: Mapping broadband access and subscription report, starting with the finding that n in American neighborhoods" report, starting with the finding that "while over 90 percent of Americans live in places where wireline broadband is available, over 73 million live in neighborhoods where in-home broadband subscription rates are below 40 percent."

The report describes neighborhoods with less than 40 percent subscription rates as "low subscription neighborhoods."

“Such neighborhoods,” they write, “concentrate the digitally disconnected portions of the American population, leaving their residents at risk of missing the economic benefits of a high-speed internet connection.” 

The post by Dews goes onto map and list the top performers in broadband subscription:

1. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida
2. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
3. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut
4. New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania
5. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire

Worst performers are also listed and mapped:

   96. Fresno, California
   97. Tulsa, Oklahoma
   98. Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama
   99. Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia-South Carolina
   100. Jackson, Mississippi