Wyoming Governor pushes for broadband expansion

broadband

Wyoming’s Governor Matt Mead is pushing for greater expansion of broadband in his state in an effort to keep the momentum of the last two years of expansion going. The most recent map from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Federal Communications Commission shows high-speed access for Wyomingites moved from 54% to 85% between 2010 and 2011. The Governor says that by continuing to add more access Wyoming can better ensure its position in the economy of the future.

Over two-thirds of Wyoming students now have access to high-speed internet connections at school – this is up from a quarter of students at the beginning of 2011. The goal is to have even faster speed connections and create more online learning opportunities. Presently, all Wyoming schools have some form of broadband internet capacity. The plan for the next two years is to expand access to high-speed connectivity to 95% of schools – ranging from one-room school houses to multi-classroom buildings.

Wyoming is expanding fiber networks to bring at least 10 megabyte download speeds throughout the state.“This expansion of fiber networks by private partners means the infrastructure will also be available to more private businesses. This in turn creates more opportunities for telecommuting and for companies that need high-speed internet to do business in Wyoming. We want to have the best technology, the best infrastructure, available throughout the state. That’s our goal. ” Governor Mead said.

While some states are looking for ways to consolidate their data centers, Wyoming is expanding theirs. Green House Data in Cheyenne and Ptolemy Data Centers in Sheridan are both expanding, and Microsoft is looking to increase the size of its data center in Cheyenne. Silver Star Communications is planning a data center opening in Afton.

“Wyoming has the potential to be a premier location for data centers. 2012 was a good year and my expectation is that 2012 represents just the beginning,” Governor Mead said.