Broadband boom

Friday, January 1, 1904

The public-private partnership known as Connected Tennessee just released new data showing that more than 95 percent of the Volunteer State's households now have access to basic broadband Internet service.

That's good news in an increasingly high-tech world, and in a state with as many difficult-to-access rural areas as Tennessee. But it's not good enough, the organization's executive director said.

"Progress must continue ... in order to bring the empowering technology of broadband to the remaining 123,220 Tennessee households unserved by basic, non-mobile, high-speed Internet," Corey Johns wrote in a news release.

At its website, connectedtn.org, the partnership offers interactive maps so visitors can see whether broadband coverage is available in their areas.

In a state where the tasks of improving public education and literacy rates pose enormous challenges, the fact that we're getting there on broadband access is an encouraging sign.