There’s no “right” answer to that question. But there is plenty of vital broadband data results in store for the state through its June 21 call for Florida residents to test the speeds of their broadband services, and at the same time contribute broadband service mapping data that the state can use to help identify opportunities for service expansion.
The invitation to participate in the broadband speed testing and mapping campaign comes from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO).
The organization said it’s partnering with local governments, technology planning teams, and other state agencies to “understand existing community needs and to better serve Floridians through future broadband infrastructure funding opportunities.”
“These efforts will expand and enhance connectivity in Florida communities and pave the way for future growth,” DEO said.
The speed tests, DEO said, are anonymous, take about a minute to run, and may be taken from any internet-connected device. They are similar in scope to testing apps offered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to gather crowdsourced mobile network performance data, with the ultimate goal of generating data to produce better maps on national broadband service availability.
Current FCC broadband mapping efforts, in turn, will help inform the Federal government’s distribution of billions of dollars of broadband expansion funding to states under infrastructure legislation approved by Congress.
“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, the department continues to champion economic development and infrastructure initiatives, and broadband plays a vital role in those efforts,” commented Dane Eagle, secretary of DEO.
“With input from Floridians, the mapping tool will provide real-time results to identify areas in need of improvement of broadband services and enable us to support local communities in their efforts to make internet accessible and reliable for all Floridians,” Eagle said.
“This opportunity will also help the state of Florida continue its work with partners to offer better education and health care access and help its communities be more resilient and adaptive to future broadband development,” he said.
