Vision and Draft Findings

Transcription

1 Nebraska Bradband Plan Visin and Draft Findings Draft March 2014 Visin Nebraska s bradband visin is that residents, businesses, gvernment entities, cmmunity partners, and visitrs have access t affrdable bradband service and have the necessary skills t effectively utilize bradband technlgies. Gal 1: T increase ecnmic develpment pprtunities, create gd-paying jbs, attract and retain ppulatin, vercme the barriers f distance, and enhance quality f life in Nebraska by facilitating the cntinuing deplyment f bradband technlgies which meet the need fr increasing cnnectin speeds. Gal 2: T facilitate digital literacy and the widespread adptin f bradband technlgies in business, agriculture, health care, educatin, gvernment and by individual Nebraskans. 1

2 Bradband Availability Bradband is available t nearly all Nebraskans. Bradband at dwnlad speeds f greater than 3 Mbps and uplad speeds greater than.768 Mbps is available t 99.2% f Nebraskans. Nebraska ties fr 24 th n this measure accrding t the federal bradband map ( 1 Bradband availability in Nebraska imprved between 2010 and 2013 as shwn n the fllwing map frm the Nebraska Bradband Map (bradbandmap.nebraska.gv). Sme areas f the state remain unserved, hwever. 1 Data frm as f June 30,

3 Nearly all Nebraska businesses have bradband access, and 75% f businesses are satisfied with their bradband service. 2 Apprximately 65% f respndents taking the speed test had dwnlad speeds f at least 6 mbps. In cmparisn, apprximately 25% had uplad speeds f at least 6 mbps. Speed test results frm metrplitan areas were higher than speeds frm nn-metr areas. Just ver a quarter f respndents taking the speed test had uplad speeds f less than 768 kbps. Slw uplad speeds may limit the adptin f higher level applicatins which invlve the creatin and sharing f infrmatin electrnically. Speed test results shw significant differences between technlgies, with fiber prviding the fastest cnnectin speeds. Fixed wireless, cable and T1 cnnectins frmed the secnd fastest tier f services. DSL, mbile wireless, and satellite cnnectins recrded the slwest speeds. Mst businesses in Nebraska are accessing the Internet thrugh cable (29%), DSL (24%) and fiber (19%) cnnectins. Small enterprises (less than 20 emplyees) are mre likely t use DSL and fixed wireless. Fiber and T1 cnnectivity is far mre cmmn amng large enterprises. A small percentage f businesses use dial-up (0.3 percent) and satellite (1.8 percent) as their primary cnnectins. These are predminately very small businesses. The mnthly expenditures f Internet cnnectivity increase with business size. Over 76 percent f very small establishments (1-9 emplyees) spend less than $150 per mnth, while almst 50 percent f establishments with 250 r mre emplyees spend $2,000 r mre per mnth. Fiber is cnsidered the mst reliable technlgy. Satellite was assessed as the least reliable, with 54 percent f respndents with satellite service reprting frequent r ccasinal prblems, fllwed by mbile wireless Netwrk Nebraska-Educatin has enabled the exchange f vide distance learning classes and decreased the cst f cmmdity Internet fr participating K-12 entities. Over 270 entities participate in Netwrk Nebraska-Educatin, including: 94% f K-12 public schl districts 100% f Educatinal Service Units 100% f the University f Nebraska campuses 100% f state clleges 100% f cmmunity clleges 100% f tribal clleges 50% f private clleges/universities 3% f private K-12 schls 2 Nebraska Bradband eslutins Benchmarking Reprt: Utilizatins and Impacts f Bradband fr Nebraska Businesses is available at bradband.nebraska.gv 3

4 Since 2007, Netwrk Nebraska has been able t lwer the unit cst f cmmdity Internet by 99% fr its members Nebraska K-20 educatin nw enjys ne f the lwest unit csts fr cmmdity Internet in the entire cuntry. The deplyment f 1:1 cmputing devices in schls and the migratin t digital cntent and nline assessments are significantly increasing bradband utilizatin by schls. The Library Bradband Builds Nebraska Cmmunities BTOP grant significantly imprved the capacity f libraries in Nebraska t prvide public access t cmputers and bradband. A ttal f 129 libraries received 168 bradband upgrades, including 34 upgrades t fiber and tw t faster fiber. The average Internet speed f all 147 participating libraries mved frm 3.8 mbps at the start f the prject t 19.7 mbps n Sept. 30, As f the end f the grant in September 2013, 8 participating libraries had bradband speeds f 100 mbps r greater, 13 had speeds between 35 and 99 mbps, 36 had speeds between 11 and 30 mbps, 46 had speeds between 5.6 and 10 mbps, and 44 had speeds between 1.5 and 5.5 mbps. The Nebraska Statewide Telehealth cnnects nearly all f the state s hspitals and all f the state s public health departments. As mre hspitals, physicians, and ther health care prviders participate in health infrmatin exchange thrugh NeHII r ebhin, the demand fr reliable bradband will likely increase. 4

5 Mbile cnnectins are becming increasingly imprtant t residents and businesses. The number f mbile bradband cnnectins is increasing natinwide, with the number f mbile cnnectins nearly equal t the number f fixed cnnectins. At the end f 2012, there were almst 65 millin fixed and 64 millin mbile cnnectins in the United States with dwnlad speeds at r abve 3 Mbps and uplad speeds at r abut 758 kbps, up frm 51 millin fixed and 31 millin mbile cnnectins in Over 88 percent f Nebraska businesses use sme frm f web-enabled mbile device, with 84% using a web-enabled laptp cmputer, clsely fllwed by web-enabled mbile phnes (81.3%). 4 Mbile cverage may be challenging fr sme residents in rural Nebraska. Anecdtal reprts indicate that sme residents need t subscribe t tw prviders f mbile cellular services in rder t have the cverage they need lcally. Mbile cverage limitatins in rural areas f Nebraska may impact the adptin and utilizatin f sme precisin agriculture technlgies which rely n mbile bradband services. 3 FCC Reprt: Internet Access Services: Status as f Dec. 31, 2012 available at 4 Nebraska Bradband eslutins Benchmarking Reprt: Utilizatins and Impacts f Bradband fr Nebraska Businesses is available at 5

6 Bradband Utilizatin Bradband Use by Nebraska Businesses In Sept. 2013, the Nebraska Bradband Initiative partnered with Strategic Netwrks Grup (SNG) t cnduct a survey f Nebraska businesses n their use f bradband technlgies. The findings are summarized belw: Bradband Utilizatin and Impact Nebraska businesses are creating jbs and increasing revenue thrugh the use f bradband applicatins. Bradband use is having a psitive impact n jbs, with 364 respndents reprting a net increase f 654 jbs due t using the Internet. Over 50% f net jbs reprted by respndents were attributed t use f the Internet. Bradband use is als having a psitive impact n business revenue with typical respndents reprting 25 t 45 percent f revenue frm the Internet. Cst savings f 4 percent were reprted by respndents. Nebraska businesses n average are utilizing 13 Internet applicatins and prcesses. Over 85 percent f businesses use the Internet t purchase gds and services nline. Over 60 percent f rganizatins sell gds and services nline and ver 53 percent deliver services and cntent nline. The tw areas with lwest current utilizatin (service delivery and rich media cntent) als have the highest level f planned use. 55% f respndents are using clud services with anther 17% actively cnsidering using clud services. Access frm any lcatin was cited as the biggest driver fr the adptin f clud services. Mbile devices and access are becming increasingly imprtant t Nebraska businesses. Over 88 percent f rganizatins use sme frm f web-enabled mbile device, with 84% using a web-enabled laptp cmputer, clsely fllwed by web-enabled mbile phnes (81.3%). Bradband availability is impacting business lcatin decisins. Over 50 percent f businesses say that the availability f bradband services was essential r very imprtant fr selecting their business lcatin, and 83 percent say that bradband is essential r very imprtant fr remaining in their current lcatin. Bradband utilizatin varies by emplyment size, regin and cmmunity size, and industry. Bradband utilizatin increases with emplyment size. 6

7 Bradband utilizatin varies by regin and cmmunity size, with businesses in the Omaha and Lincln areas reprting the highest utilizatin f Internet technlgies. Businesses in Central Nebraska (Cherry, Keya Paha, Brwn, Rck, Byd, Hlt, Blaine, Lup, Garfield, Wheeler, Custer, Valley, Greely, and Sherman Cunties) reprted lwer levels f utilizatin f Internet technlgies. Businesses in islated small twns reprted lwer levels f utilizatin f bradband technlgies than businesses lcated in larger cmmunities. Bradband utilizatin varies by industry, with educatinal services; infrmatin; prfessinal and technical service; finance and insurance; and retail trade having the highest utilizatin levels. Agriculture, frestry and fishing had the lwest levels f utilizatin. Bradband applicatins are becming increasingly imprtant fr agricultural prducers. The use f bradband technlgies by agricultural prducers is increasing with significant numbers f prducers using the Internet fr regulatry management (58%), business planning (58%), crp management (50%), and direct prduct sales (45%). Barriers and Adptin Uses Security and privacy cncerns are bigger barriers t adptin f bradband technlgies than the speed f available Internet service. Security and privacy cncerns were the mst significant barriers with 56% f respndents citing security cncerns and 46% citing privacy cncerns as very imprtant. Sixteen percent f respndents cited Internet speed as a very imprtant barrier t bradband utilizatin. The cmplete reprt, Nebraska Bradband eslutins Benchmarking Reprt: Utilizatins and Impacts f Bradband fr Nebraska Businesses, is available at bradband.nebraska.gv. 7