As technology has advanced and the demand has grown for video streams for teleconferencing, telemedicine, and binge-watching, the Federal Communications Commission has steadily raised the threshold for what it defines as “high-speed” broadband internet service. Since 2019, 25 megabits per second download and 4 megabits up has been the FCC’s target. Most delivery technologies have kept pace, with fiber and cable-based broadband pushing into 1,000 mpbs territory; so, too is the much-hyped mobile wireless technology called “5G.” But the highest speed services are poorly distributed and generally concentrated in affluent communities and big-city downtown business districts.
Read article: By Land or Sky, Rural Western Communities Seek an Elusive Good: Broadband Internet Access
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Staff and Contributors
Geoff McGhee
Associate editor
Geoff McGhee specializes in interactive data visualization and multimedia storytelling. He is a veteran of the multimedia and infographics staffs at The New York Times, Le Monde and ABCNews.com. MORE »
Xavier Martinez
Editorial Assistant
Xavier graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a degree in economics and is currently a master’s student in Stanford’s journalism program. He has written about the high phone call costs faced by U.S. inmates, temporary Mexican workers’ interactions with the labor market and the efficacy of government healthcare assistance programs. A lifelong lover of charts and maps, he enjoys combining data journalism with narrative-style reporting.
‘& the West’ is published by the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, which is dedicated to research, teaching, and journalism about the past, present, and future of the North American West.
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