A 2019 state task force study found that Nebraska ranked behind all of its neighboring states except Wyoming in broadband availability. A year ago, BroadbandNow, a California-based research firm, ranked Nebraska 48th in terms of access, price and speed.

A bill in the Unicameral to improve rural Internet service advanced on its first reading 42-0 (seven senators were not present).

After Jan. 1, any new broadband project funded in part by the state’s Universal Service Fund must provide speeds of 100/100 (100 megabits per second download and 100 Mbps upload), which some senators referred to as the “Cadillac” of internet speeds.

Currently, the federal and state definition of broadband is a speed of 25/3, which was described as barely adequate today and inadequate for future uses, such has high-tech agriculture applications and business needs.

According to a recent estimate, 80,000 of Nebraska’s rural residents lack internet that delivers speeds of 25/3, with nearly twice that number lacking 100/100 speeds.

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I’m in that “lacks 25/3” group.

Legislature crafts compromise to bring faster broadband to Nebraskans