I have often mentioned the number of emails I get weekly telling how our state rates in a wide array of categories, some being rather unusual in nature. We often are at the top or bottom of the list depending on which is the most unpleasant.
This week I received a news release detailing how West Virginia was the worst state in the nation when it comes to internet service. Actually, that isn’t a surprise to most of us who live here.
The article was titled “West Virginia has the worst internet in the US, according to new data.’ The item detailed how West Virginia tops the nation in internet complaints with 587 per 100,000 broadband locations, 109% above the national average. Georgia and Washington followed the Mountain State with North Dokata topping the list and apparently having the best internet service, with only 60 complaints per 100,000 broadband locations.
According to the report, since 2014, the most common type of internet complaint has been related to availability. These make up 39% of all West Virginian internet complaints and is the second-highest percentage of availability complaints nationwide. The report also found that billing complaints were the most common type of complaints for 29 states and overall availability second, with 20 states. Rhode Island was the only state
with privacy complaints the most common.”
To bring those numbers closer home, the 39% is also what I recall seeing as the current percentage of residents and businesses in Braxton County that have access to high-speed internet.
The federal government is throwing tons of money at the problem, but unfortunately, we have seen very little substantive change. All too often, large amounts of money and short time frames to work in result in waste. We can only hope that will not continue to be the case when it comes to improving internet service this time.