Beginning in February 2018, an 11-month study dubbed the “Pennsylvania Broadband Mapping Initiative” launched. The study hopes to determine the amount of high-speed internet access that residents of rural Pennsylvania have and then provide potential solutions to the problems, based on previous models of success.
The study is quick and easy. All you need to do is:
- Access the website
- Click the “Start Test” button and,
- Wait less than 30 seconds.
The information published includes each device’s IP address but does not include personal identifying information about you as an Internet user.
More than 5.1 million tests — including more than 740,000 in the past three months — have already been conducted in PA since its inception in 2008. This previously collected data will provide a valuable baseline for the study that began on Feb. 1 and will continue to stretch throughout the rest of the calendar year.
The study will identify areas where broadband access does not exist, define characteristics of communities with lower levels of access, and offer examples of successful intervention that might be successful in Pennsylvania’s communities. We know that access to fast internet is lacking in many communities in Greene and Washington Counties. Access to Information is vital and the internet is the best means for the spreading of information, so, it is very important that everyone has an opportunity for internet access.
