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Broadband competition highest in low-income states

A recent report by fraud protection site ID Insight reveals that Arkansas has the most competition for internet service providers, as relayed by ArsTechnica.com.

The report, which lists North Dakota, South Carolina, Nebraska, California and Alabama, in that order, behind Arkansas, presents an interesting point based upon recent events. Two weeks ago, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded more than $25 million to Arkansas, as well as Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, to build more fiber-optics lines to reach their technologically under-developed counties. Conversely, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maryland, Colorado and Delaware sit at the bottom of the broadband competition list.

Says ID Insight, "we see that the five states with the lowest income have the most competition, while the five states with the highest income have the least competition," ArsTechnica reported.

ID Insight feels that the largest internet service providers flocked to the most prosperous states initially and created strangle holds on those areas. For the lower-income states that are creating infrastructure more recently, the larger ISPs haven't had a chance to apply the same grip, opening a door for competition.

In addition to having among the lowest service provider competition, Delaware also leads the country in average broadband speed, DSLReports.com reported.

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