For this week, the Dude takes a look at broadband connectivity and download speeds. For Nebraska, the Dude created a
map of Nebraska libraries by download speed, with the figures from the most recent public library survey (2012-13 FY). But before we get to that map—-and let’s just be honest, we might not get to it at all, the Dude needs to mention the sleepy little town of
Poynette, Wisconsin (population: around 2500). Something tells me this town is the kind of place (much like many parts of rural Nebraska) where a yellow traffic light refreshingly means slow down rather than speed up. Why is Poynette worth mention? Well, recently, on September 24, the
library there was selected to receive a boost to their broadband connection as a part of a
4.2 million dollar statewide upgrade that included 350 total libraries. Now, when the Dude read this, his initial thought was that the speed must be in line with some of the fiber connections in parts of Nebraska. The Dude recently talked to a certain Nebraska librarian on the phone about the Digital Inclusion Survey speed test, and the fiber-connected librarian reported download speeds of around 75-80 Mbps. Stick that in your shorts. Poynette’s speed increased from a measly (by comparison) 3.0 to 10 Mbps.
How did we get here, spending copious amounts of hard earned cash on “high speed” connectivity, or “broadband” that, let’s face it, by comparison gets kicked in the same shorts mentioned above by the rest of the world. But first, let’s retract to a definition of “broadband”. According to the
FCC, broadband (“high speed”), “may range from as low as 200 kilobits per second (kbps)…to 30 megabits per second (Mbps).” Really? 200 kilobits? According to a nifty
download time tool the Dude found, it would take over
9 minutes to download a 1 GB file at the rate of 256 kbps (just over 200 Kbps), while the same file would take 17 seconds on an 8 Mbps connection, 14 seconds on a 10 Mbps connection, and just over
1 second on a 100 Mbps connection. Some Nebraska libraries report speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. Go to the map linked at the outset of this post, uncheck everything at the bottom of the map, and you are left with the 5 libraries that reported those speeds on last year’s survey. And the locations will probably surprise you.
Now, for a little more focus to this rant, or just a little more rant, however you might see it. You all are certainly capable of going to the map, comparing your town with the town next door, and submitting your own “let’s keep up with the Joneses” proposals to increase connectivity, access, and speed. But why care about the bigger picture here; or how is that picture even illustrated? Well, for one, the U.S. lags behind, waaaaay behind, the rest of the world when it comes to “high speed” access. And the reality is that most of us Americans (in general) and American librarians (in particular) care about taking that in the shorts, again. Libraries are supposed to be the leaders when it comes to this sort of stuff, but consider this: The U.S. (subject to debate, of course, like everything else, but in particular the U.S government is likely deserving of the title: Inventor of the Internet[1]) is nowhere near the world leader in connectivity speed. Susan Crawford (author of
Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age), summaries this divide by noting that in Hong Kong, a 500 Mbps connection (yeah, you read that right,
500 Mbps!) can be had by consumers for about 25 bucks per month. In Seoul, the same service costs about $30 per month, and you can get connected in just a few days.
Why is this important? Well, the Dude thinks it is because every person should have access to basic services, and in this day and age, speed is as much of a basic service as connectivity. As most librarians know, how can kids do homework, how can a person apply for government benefits, research basic health information, do all the things that fall under the umbrella of information literacy without even basic services. And the kids need that 500 Mbps connection for homework. Well, maybe not exactly, but as things evolve, high connectivity speeds become more and more relevant. Furthermore, the Dude likes to think that the U.S. is just better than that (even in areas where a consumer has the option of something more in line with what they can get in Hong Kong or Seoul—say NYC, they pay a
lot more than $30/month), by simply recognizing the value of wanting to download large files in shorter amounts of time, stream HD video, or have HD video conferencing for educational or entertainment purposes. According to
Ookla, the U.S. ranks 25
th on the current list of connectivity speed (with a national average of 29.85 Mbps and a Nebraska average of 26.8). While that doesn’t sound too bad, consider this: the U.S. is outpaced in speed by Bulgaria, the Aland Islands, Estonia, Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, Andorra, Macau, and Lithuania, and others. The Dude readily admits he has never heard of half of those countries, so it is time to check the map. This may be the part of a multi-post series on this topic, and be patient with the Dude because it may take some time. But for now: Shaka.
[1] For more on the invention of the internet (and the article ties into this blog post appropriately), the Dude highly recommends
this article published by
Slate by Farhad Manjoo.
For this week, the Dude takes a look at broadband connectivity and download speeds. For Nebraska, the Dude created a map of Nebraska libraries by download speed, with the figures from the most recent public library survey (2012-13 FY). But before we get to that map—-and let’s just be honest, we might not get to it at all, the Dude needs to mention the sleepy little town of Poynette, Wisconsin (population: around 2500). Something tells me this town is the kind of place (much like many parts of rural Nebraska) where a yellow traffic light refreshingly means slow down rather than speed up. Why is Poynette worth mention? Well, recently, on September 24, the library there was selected to receive a boost to their broadband connection as a part of a 4.2 million dollar statewide upgrade that included 350 total libraries. Now, when the Dude read this, his initial thought was that the speed must be in line with some of the fiber connections in parts of Nebraska. The Dude recently talked to a certain Nebraska librarian on the phone about the Digital Inclusion Survey speed test, and the fiber-connected librarian reported download speeds of around 75-80 Mbps. Stick that in your shorts. Poynette’s speed increased from a measly (by comparison) 3.0 to 10 Mbps.
How did we get here, spending copious amounts of hard earned cash on “high speed” connectivity, or “broadband” that, let’s face it, by comparison gets kicked in the same shorts mentioned above by the rest of the world. But first, let’s retract to a definition of “broadband”. According to the FCC, broadband (“high speed”), “may range from as low as 200 kilobits per second (kbps)…to 30 megabits per second (Mbps).” Really? 200 kilobits? According to a nifty download time tool the Dude found, it would take over 9 minutes to download a 1 GB file at the rate of 256 kbps (just over 200 Kbps), while the same file would take 17 seconds on an 8 Mbps connection, 14 seconds on a 10 Mbps connection, and just over 1 second on a 100 Mbps connection. Some Nebraska libraries report speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. Go to the map linked at the outset of this post, uncheck everything at the bottom of the map, and you are left with the 5 libraries that reported those speeds on last year’s survey. And the locations will probably surprise you.
Now, for a little more focus to this rant, or just a little more rant, however you might see it. You all are certainly capable of going to the map, comparing your town with the town next door, and submitting your own “let’s keep up with the Joneses” proposals to increase connectivity, access, and speed. But why care about the bigger picture here; or how is that picture even illustrated? Well, for one, the U.S. lags behind, waaaaay behind, the rest of the world when it comes to “high speed” access. And the reality is that most of us Americans (in general) and American librarians (in particular) care about taking that in the shorts, again. Libraries are supposed to be the leaders when it comes to this sort of stuff, but consider this: The U.S. (subject to debate, of course, like everything else, but in particular the U.S government is likely deserving of the title: Inventor of the Internet[1]) is nowhere near the world leader in connectivity speed. Susan Crawford (author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age), summaries this divide by noting that in Hong Kong, a 500 Mbps connection (yeah, you read that right, 500 Mbps!) can be had by consumers for about 25 bucks per month. In Seoul, the same service costs about $30 per month, and you can get connected in just a few days.
Why is this important? Well, the Dude thinks it is because every person should have access to basic services, and in this day and age, speed is as much of a basic service as connectivity. As most librarians know, how can kids do homework, how can a person apply for government benefits, research basic health information, do all the things that fall under the umbrella of information literacy without even basic services. And the kids need that 500 Mbps connection for homework. Well, maybe not exactly, but as things evolve, high connectivity speeds become more and more relevant. Furthermore, the Dude likes to think that the U.S. is just better than that (even in areas where a consumer has the option of something more in line with what they can get in Hong Kong or Seoul—say NYC, they pay a lot more than $30/month), by simply recognizing the value of wanting to download large files in shorter amounts of time, stream HD video, or have HD video conferencing for educational or entertainment purposes. According to Ookla, the U.S. ranks 25th on the current list of connectivity speed (with a national average of 29.85 Mbps and a Nebraska average of 26.8). While that doesn’t sound too bad, consider this: the U.S. is outpaced in speed by Bulgaria, the Aland Islands, Estonia, Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, Andorra, Macau, and Lithuania, and others. The Dude readily admits he has never heard of half of those countries, so it is time to check the map. This may be the part of a multi-post series on this topic, and be patient with the Dude because it may take some time. But for now: Shaka.
[1] For more on the invention of the internet (and the article ties into this blog post appropriately), the Dude highly recommends this article published by Slate by Farhad Manjoo.
