New Analysis Proves Need for Broadband in Pennsylvania 

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania released a new analysis of broadband speed test data and found that broadband service improvements are needed across the commonwealth, especially in rural counties.  

“For years, we’ve been well aware that broadband access is lacking in rural areas, and the pandemic has made that need even more apparent,” said Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania Board of Directors. “This report by the Center continues to demonstrate the need for broadband in rural Pennsylvania, and it can help to inform state, county, and local officials on where broadband service is needed most.” 

The analysis used data from nearly 3 million upload and download speed tests taken throughout Pennsylvania in 2021 through a collaboration between Exactly Labs and X-Lab, a non-partisan technology policy institute at Penn State University. The data indicated that while there is need across Pennsylvania, the counties most in need and most eligible for federal aid are rural counties in the central Susquehanna Valley region (Juniata, Perry, and Snyder counties), portions of the Pennsylvania Wilds (Cameron, Clarion, Elk, and Forest counties), Susquehanna and Wyoming counties in the northeast, Greene County in the southwest, and Crawford County in the northwest. Click here for more.