Take the Speed Matters Test
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The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Speed Matters campaign will soon release its annual report on Internet speeds across the country to help paint a clear picture of U.S. Internet speeds and identify the areas that need immediate improvement.
You can help by clicking here to take the Speed Matters test to find out just how fast your Internet speed is. Previous reports have found that the United States lags far behind other industrialized nations when it comes to Internet speeds.
Why does Internet speed matter?
Report: Invest in Broadband to Go Green, Overcome Digital Divide
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To build a green economy, we must also invest in broadband and overcome the growing digital divide in our society, according to a new report. “Networking the Green Economy: How Broadband & Related Technologies Can Build a Green Economic Future” calls for new communication technologies to make our energy-hungry economy more sustainable and energy-efficient.
By transforming the way people and businesses use technology, the United States can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 20 percent by 2020–and potentially see gross energy and fuel savings of $2 trillion over the next two decades, the report says.
The Communications Workers of America’s (CWA) Speed Matters project, along with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and the Blue Green Alliance jointly released the report today.
Specifically, the report calls for increasing grid efficiency through real-time monitoring, automation and self-healing capabilities, allowing various building systems to communicate with each other through smart technologies and extending communication technologies, such as broadband, to everyone.
Click here to read the full report.
U.S. Still Lags Way Behind in Internet Speed
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The United States continues to lag far behind the world’s other industrialized nations when it comes to Internet speed—and the impact goes far beyond the time it takes your movies or music to download or family videos to upload. It slows the economy and job growth, too.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) third annual Speed Matters survey finds that even at the current rate of improvement, it still would take the United States 15 years to catch up with the global Internet speed leader South Korea, where speeds are four times faster than in the United States.
The average download speed of U.S. Internet connections is 5.1 megabits per second, significantly below the averages of countries like South Korea (20.1 mbps), Japan (16 mbps) and Sweden (12.7 mbps).
High-Speed Internet? Take the Speed Matters Test and Find Out
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We’ve all been there—online waiting, and not patiently—for a connection to check the bank account, order medicine or just get the latest Hollywood gossip. You mutter to yourself, “This is high speed and it’s costing me how much a month?”
You might be one of those folks in a low-income urban or rural area where, even if you wanted to pay for high-speed Internet service, the only option available is the dreaded dial-up.
Now you can do something about it. Take the Speed Matters test.
Speed Matters, a campaign by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is part of the union’s effort to promote national and state policies for affordable, universal high-speed broadband networks and end the digital divide. One of the campaign’s tools is the Speed Matters test that measures the speed of your Internet connection to see if it jives with speed your provider promised. Click here to take the Speed Matters test.
