100% of Montana schools now have broadband access

Today I announced that 100 percent of K-12 students now have access to high-speed broadband. This achievement opens the door to expanded opportunities for teaching and learning in Montana classrooms.

A report released today from EducationSuperHighway highlights the status of broadband connectivity in the nation’s K-12 public schools. The report found that 100 percent of school districts in Montana can access the internet at speeds at 100 Kbps per student, up from 78 percent in 2015.

Montana schools are also making significant progress toward the Federal Communications Commission’s long-term bandwidth goal of 1 Mbps per student. In Montana, 64 percent of schools upgraded to scalable infrastructure since 2016. The work to upgrade the remaining 62 schools continues, as having scalable infrastructure in place enables schools to keep up with growing bandwidth demand due to increasing digital innovation in K-12 classrooms.

Since partnering with EducationSuperHighway beginning in 2015:

• Fiber access is expanding: over 60% of Montana schools have upgraded to fiber. 450 Montana schools now have scalable infrastructure and only 62 schools still need to be upgraded to scalable infrastructure.
• Demand is growing: median bandwidth speeds have increased by nearly 5 times. 
• Cost is decreasing: the median price of bandwidth has decreased by 76% from $10.00 per Mbps to $2.40 per Mbps.

We need to continue to bridge the gap between urban and rural schools and ensure that every classroom is equipped with 21st-century technology to allow our teachers to be innovative and for students to be better prepared for a modern and changing workforce.

Every student in Montana now has access to high-speed broadband and we will continue to work with local, state and federal partners to further enhance this access in every corner of the state.

Sincerely,

STEVE BULLOCK
Governor