Alaska broadband access lags nation.

• Author: Miller, Amy
• Position: ALASKA TRENDS

When it comes to broadband, Alaskans are among the least connected Americans, according to several federal and state surveys of broadband availability. The state's vast size and widely dispersed population explain this gap--the infrastructure needed to provide improved access and faster broadband is expensive, not to mention technically challenging to build.

However, access to broadband is widely recognized as a key economic driver no matter where one lives. A 2011 Business Technology Assessment study in Alaska found that businesses with broadband access report $200,000 more in median earnings per year than businesses that are not using broadband. The study was conducted by Connect Alaska, a statewide public-private partnership working on broadband expansion under a federal grant administered by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. Considering that median self-reported revenues for businesses with broadband were $300,000, the gap between those with broadband and without is significant.

The study found that 70 percent of Alaska businesses subscribe to broadband service. But Alaska business owners pay more for slower speeds than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. The median monthly broadband charge in Alaska in 2011 was $76.11 at a median advertised download speed of 2.6 Mbps (megabits per second); this compares to a national average of $68.32 per month for 4.9 Mbps. The state and national data on prices and speeds comes from Connected Nation, a national nonprofit working to improve access to broadband nationwide. In August 2013, the Alaska Broadband Task Force released its

"Blueprint for Alaska's Broadband Future." The...