Effort to bring internet to rural areas continues

Connect Nevada, the group working to expand the availability of high-speed Internet in Nevada, says more than 95 percent of the state’s households now have access to broadband service.

Although that’s a major improvement over a decade ago, it’s worth pointing out 90 percent of the state’s households are in Reno/Sparks, Carson/Douglas and the Las Vegas area.

Nonetheless, providers have made strides in providing service in rural parts of the state where high-speed Internet was rare if available at all less than a decade ago.

The organization issued a press release saying many households can access Internet service capable of at least 10 megabits per second download speeds.

When the state project began, a significant number of rural areas could not get high speed Internet service. The non-profit group was commissioned to work with Internet providers across the state to identify gaps in service and coordinate efforts to develop service statewide.

“The goal is to spread high-speed Internet across the state and to make sure all Nevada residents have access to its life-changing benefits,” according to the announcement.

Those gaps in service are still present in some of Nevada’s rural areas like Pershing, Lander and Humboldt counties.

The worst numbers presented were for Esmeralda and Eureka counties where less than a percent of homes could get the 10 mbps service. Nye County had that access for just 4.2 percent of homes

Connect Nevada manager Lindsey Harmon said they are confident availability will continue to improve in all parts of Nevada.

Detailed information is available at www.connectnv.org.