Our friend over at Blandin on Broadband, Ann Treacy, had this post about Minnesota ranking #1 in internet usage:
Entrepreneur Magazine just called out Minnesota as the state with the highest rate of Internet usage…
According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, you won’t find the most connected people on the coasts, or deep in the heart of Texas, but largely in the Midwest. Just under three-quarters of U.S. households were online in 2015. But the most connected state isn’t located on one of the coasts — it’s in the heart of the Midwest…
In 2015, 83.1 percent of Minnesotans, or 4,307,850 households, used the internet. In 1998, 1,889,017 (then 41.5 percent) households were online.
It’s great to see Minnesota rank highly! However before we drink too much champagne, there are a couple of caveats – they are talking about Internet usage, not necessarily broadband. And they are talking about use anywhere (library, work, coffee shop, school), not necessarily home. We come in third for home access with 76.2 percent, which is good but still Internet access – not necessarily broadband.
We agree with Ann that it’s good to see Minnesota ranked so highly but our broadband is still lacking state-wide. Read more from Ann and follow Blandin on Broadband.