I suppose I should celebrate the slight climb the US made, moving from #10 to #9 in terms of adoption of high speed broadband – but we’ve been alternating  positions at the bottom of that list for a while. So it doesn’t feel like a huge victory. And it’s always disconcerting to see that Minnesota doesn’t rank – at all. I am lifting by the mention of Melrose!

Here’s how the US ranked the last time I checked the Akamai reports…

• Average Measured Connection Speed by Country/Region – US is still #8
• Average peak connection speed – the US isn’t listed, which means below #10 (US average peak connection is 36.3 Mbps – the #10 peak average is 39.5 in Taiwan)
• Adoption of high broadband (defined as 10 Mbps down) the US dropped to #10

This is how the US ranks now, according to the Q3 2013 Akamai report…

• Average Measured Connection Speed by Country/Region – US is still #8 (again)
• Average peak connection speed – the US isn’t listed, which means below #10 (again)
• Adoption of high broadband (defined as 10 Mbps down) the US moved up to #9

Minnesota does not rank in the top 10 states for any category. Melrose MN, however, does get a nod…

Although the states listed in the top 10 have some of the fastest Internet connections in the country, connectivity is improving gradually in other states as well. In July, a property management company announced that a new Chicago, Illinois rental community would offer 1 Gbps connectivity starting in September.24 Also in July, it was reported that the tiny town of Melrose, Minnesota will get 1 Gbps connectivity, though it would be priced at $300 per month, with 100 Mbps connections priced at $200 per month.

The tone seems to indicate that pricing is high. It’s certainly not for run of the mill residential use, but $300 per month for Gig access doesn’t seem terrible to me – especially if it’s a business expense. Melrose also offers 20 Mbps for $20 per month, which sounds pretty affordable to me. In fact, $20 is exactly the price that Minnesota non-adopters said they would pay for broadband in a survey released by Connected Nation about a year ago (Dec 2012). Now if we can just get more of our “tiny towns” and outlying areas on board with access like Melrose, I think we can start finding Minnesota on the top of the Akamai charts!