The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission just released a report on high speed Internet adoption, use, and availability in five Washington counties. The report was mandated by the state Legislature, and it was developed by CBG Communications in consultation with representatives from telecom companies, universities, local governments, public interest groups, and state agencies and utilities. Read More »
Gail Love from CWA Local 7810 has been appointed to the Washington State Broadband Working Group. The group's first task will be to review the recently released comprehensive report on high speed Internet in five Washington counties and develop strategies for expanding high speed Internet to all Washingtonians. Read More »
Across Washington, large sections of the state are still without high speed Internet connections. The answer to the problem, according to CWA and others, lies in reliable mapping of which areas are connected, which areas have a connection that is too slow, and which areas have no connection at all. Once it's clear which areas are which, Washington can figure out how to address its needs. Read More »
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has signed The High Speed Internet Initiative into law. This legislation calls for a strategic plan and specific proposals to expand high speed Internet statewide to be completed by the Washington Department of Information Services in time for the 2009 legislative session. Read More »
The Washington State legislature unanimously passed a bill to increase high speed Internet access across the state on March 12. The proposal -- a combination of bills sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle and Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila -- will create a strategy to achieve high speed Internet access across the state, especially the underserved rural areas. Read More »
On January 15th Marcus Courtney, the president of WashTech/CWA, testified in front of the Washington State House Technology Communications and Energy Committee on the need for and benefits of high speed Internet expansion. HB 2559, currently before the Washington State House, would create a statewide high speed Internet deployment and adoption initiative. During the hearing Mr. Courtney outlined some key CWA goals: fuel the state's economy, create jobs and keep Washington competitive, bridge the digital divide and create opportunity in rural and underserved communities, and improve health, safety and educational opportunities for Washington residents. Read More »
The Alliance for Public Technology has just released a new report, Broadband Initiatives: Enhancing Lives and Transforming Communities, which documents examples of how high speed networks have changed the lives, and saved the lives, of individuals and communities in ways that many of us could not have even imagined 5 years ago. In a short video, Dr. Curtis Lowery, of the ANGELS program in Arkansas, explains how rural women who never would have had access to pre-natal care now can access it locally. Read More »
Folks living in communities near Spokane, Washington are excited about harnessing the power of high speed internet for their businesses. Unfortunately, due to the lack of reliable high speed service, they're having a tough time taking advantage of these opportunities. Read More »
Thanks to our 80,000 Speed Testers, the Speed Matters Campaign has been making waves around the country. On Monday we released a state-by-state report and interactive map on U.S. internet speeds based on the test results. Read More »
More than 80,000 people have taken the Speed Matters Speed Test to learn the actual speed of their internet connections. We've used the results of all those speed tests to create the first-ever state-by-state report on internet speeds across America. Our findings were deeply troubling. Read More »
