State asks ALL to take broadband speed test

Speed Test Results will be used to show real speeds and availability across state

As a part of a plan to gather accurate information on broadband coverage across Kentucky, Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman announced the launch of the Kentucky Broadband Speed Test last Thursday, which will allow residents to test their own home internet, or lack of, and that information will be gathered as a part of the study.

The program will run from January 19 to February 18.
“We need as many Kentuckians as possible to take this internet speed test, to get an accurate picture of who has adequate internet access across the state,” governor Andy Beshear said in a press release. “The more speed tests taken, the better understanding we will have of our state’s internet capabilities, and the better prepared we will be to repair and expand it.”
Right now internet providers can say that internet is available in an area even if almost none of that area is covered.

“Although the Federal Communications Commission maps internet speeds, its results are sometimes based on the results of one location within a census block, which can cover several square miles in rural parts of the state. Those results are often inaccurate for residents or businesses in those locations,” the press release said.

In other words, if one house in a census block has internet access, an internet provider can say that entire area has it, even if no other houses can get it.

By using this speed test, individuals can enter their address and the actual speeds available to them will be shown to the user, but they’ll also be gathered and used to determine the reality of internet access down to individual homes.

Those who have no internet at their house are encouraged to use the speed test elsewhere, like at a library, and there’s a spot to indicate that they don’t have internet at home, which is as important as knowing the speeds of those who do have it.

Having fast internet, and having it at all, became vital to students and workers during the pandemic, whose schools and workplaces were shut down amid virus worries, and they were forced to do their work online, which meant many had to spend time at libraries or other public Wi-Fi hotspots.

“There is a digital divide in households across Kentucky, especially in rural areas, that has become even more apparent during the pandemic when so many people need it to attend school, go to work, get government services and conduct personal business from home,” Lt. Gov. Coleman said in the press release. “As an educator, I am especially concerned about the 13,000, or 2%, of Kentucky students who lack internet access at home so they are basically cut off from their teachers and classrooms. We have to do better by them.”

Although the press release talks about using the test to determine who does and doesn’t have internet access and at what speeds, the term “broadband” is a defined speed of internet, and it must meet minimum requirements to bear that name.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates and defines broadband, and in 2015 it determined that the minimum speeds are 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload for terrestrial internet. Anything slower than that doesn’t officially count as broadband.

Hancock County officials have been working to improve the internet locally for years, stymied in part by companies that don’t want to spend money on rural areas, but also by official coverage maps that show services and speeds in the area that aren’t actually available on the ground.

“The object is to get as many people to take that (test) so there can be as much data collected as possible on what the actual internet capability is,” said Mike Baker, the director of the county’s industrial foundation. “We desperately need to get that information in the hands of the right people.”
Judge-Executive Johnny “Chic” Roberts said the test might show what’s really going on in the county.

“There’s a disconnect there. There’s no question there’s a disconnect,” he said. “How it’s reported and what people actually have are two different things… “I think that’s what the state’s challenge is too, to find out what is being reported everyone has and what is the reality of it, what do people actually have.”

“So this is just trying to change that where we’ll just show what reality is,” he said. “Basically we’re just wanting the actual snapshot of what’s going on, which will predominantly show poor internet access, not capable of running what we need to have for telemed or virtual learning.”

“Hopefully we can keep moving forward and get something done,” he said.
To take the test go to:  ewdc.ky.gov/Initiatives/Pages/KBI.aspx

By Dave Taylor
dave.hancockclarion
@gmail.com