Resources and Helpful Links
Find out your internet speed! Try the test below and run as many tests as you like. Try the test at different hours of the day or when multiple devices are in use! Click "GO" and wait for the results.
Notice: Speedtests from Ookla are sponsored by different companies (e.g. Comcast, Pitt Ohio LLC, Crowsnest Broadband LLC, etc.); if you see discrepancies between your internet provider and the company listed above, no worries! This is just a server sponsored by a broadband company. For example, if you have Verizon FiOS, you may see that you are connecting to a Comcast server. You will receive the same results no matter who the sponsor is!
Fixed Broadband Access Data Dashboard
Adoption and Equity Data Dashboard
Visit the SPC Connected webpage to learn more about the broadband analysis and access the dashboards.
ABOUT THE CONNECTIVITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Help Us Bring High-Speed Internet to Your Community
The need for broadband internet is greater now than ever before and your leaders are here to help. We are developing a plan that identifies the communities across the region without access to reliable and affordable internet.
The plan will outline and rank high-speed connectivity projects to close the digital divide. It will bring broadband to the communities that need it most to provide access to jobs, education, health care and new business.
The plan is critical to ensure we take advantage of opportunities for broadband grants and funding that are available now and new ones coming soon.
It will also lay the groundwork for the critical change needed to look at broadband as a required utility like water, electricity, and gas.
WILL THE PLAN COVER ME?
Broadband Should Be Available and Affordable to the 10-County Southwest PA Region
Rural and urban areas in our region are lacking access to affordable internet and equipment that is fast and reliable. This impacts the quality of life for our residents and communities.
- Rural issue – high-speed broadband service is oftentimes unavailable.
- Urban issue – affordability where low-income households cannot afford access.
The plan will also serve the region’s most vulnerable populations who don’t have access to or can’t afford current connectivity.
Learn more by reviewing the helpful Project Overview one-pager or by visiting spcregion.org/connected.
Partners: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), Allies for Children and Carnegie Mellon University (Metro21 and Traffic21).
Background: The need for high-speed internet connectivity is greater now than ever before. The emergence of the COVID-19 virus has forced the world to rethink the way critical services such as education and health care are delivered. A substantial number of rural Pennsylvania residents are either underserved or unserved by broadband internet service, despite what the data collected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) states. Many urban and suburban areas of the region are also experiencing connectivity issues, in contrast to the rural connectivity where high- speed broadband service is oftentimes unavailable; urban issues are often centered around affordability where low-income households cannot afford access.
Purpose: Partners will work together with a broad, regional coalition of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive, strategic Connectivity Improvement Plan to deploy high-speed connectivity programs and projects to enable the areas of the southwestern Pennsylvania region lacking adequate high-speed internet access and equipment to better connect to jobs, education, health care and to attract new business to all corners of the region. Most importantly, this strategic plan will help people connect to opportunity.
Overarching Goal: The Connectivity Improvement Plan is intended to act as a catalyst in proactively assisting the 10-county region1 to research, collect, develop and prioritize a pipeline of connectivity projects and programs in order to secure funding for implementation. This project will examine the current, true state of the region’s broadband connectivity in relation to the region’s demographic and socioeconomic composition in order to ensure its recommendations help to equitably serve the region’s most vulnerable populations who are unserved or underserved by current connectivity.
The Work: SPC and partners have contracted with a multidisciplinary team, led by Michael Baker International to conduct an existing conditions analysis. Michael Baker has developed interactive mapping applications including an ArcGIS Online Connectivity Index for Southwestern Pennsylvania- examining socio-economic indicators, the locations of schools, medical facilities, parks and businesses, as well as existing connectivity infrastructure. The purpose of these are to highlight where there are gaps and where we need to conduct community outreach and advocacy. While the maps will be used by the project team to gather community stakeholder input through community engagement meetings, in addition to conducting a public awareness and outreach campaign.
