No high speed internet for 19 million Americans

According to the Federal Telecommunications Commission, close to 19 million Americans don’t have access to high speed internet.

The United States has the third highest internet user population in the world behind China and India, with close to 245 million users. And while Google last month launched their 1 Gbps fibre optic network in Kansas City, the Federal Telecommunications Commission reports that 19 million residents across the United States don’t even have high speed Internet access. This represents approximately 6% of the United States population.

For the FCC, a high speed internet connection means speeds of at least 4 Mbps in download and 1 Mbps upload.

"The country has made significant progress in the expansion of high speed Internet over the last few years", notes the FCC, although there is still a lot to do. Last year, the FCC claimed that 36 million Americans were unable to access high speed internet.

Even in regions where high speed is accessible, some 100 million Americans – close to one third of the population – haven’t signed up to access the internet.