(Northfield, Minn.) In the first national study of broadband service providers’ market share, data-and-analytics firm ID Insight and industry analyst Craig Settles found Arkansas to have the most competitive environment nationwide, with North Carolina coming in at number 17. The study, “The State of Broadband Competition in America – 2010,” based its rankings on market-share distribution analysis of states’ top-10 broadband providers.

Using over two million data points nationwide, ID Insight’s BroadBand Scout℠ database determined market share within each state and the District of Columbia. Arkansas was ranked as the country’s most competitive state, followed by North Dakota and South Carolina. Hawaii and Rhode Island ranked 50th and 51st, respectively.

Top 20 States, Ranked by Level of Competitiveness
 
1.        Arkansas          11.        West Virginia 
2.    North Dakota     12.    Wisconsin 
3.    South Carolina  13.    Minnesota 
4.    Nebraska             14.    Florida 
5.    California            15.    Montana 
6.    Alabama             16.    Connecticut 
7.    Missouri             17.    North Carolina 
8.    Indiana               18.    South Dakota 
9.    Texas                   19.    Oregon 
10.    Kentucky        20.    Michigan 

The complete report, including the methodology used, is available at no charge at www.idinsight.com/broadband.asp. According to Settles and ID Insight president Adam Elliott, the data dispels the assumption by some that broadband competition in the United States is robust, and that consumers have many choices.

“Because competition continues to be a major point of contention within the broadband industry, we wanted to generate an accurate and, above all, unbiased picture of the competitive landscape,” says Elliott. “The BroadBand Scout database observes usage and carrier information across the country, allowing us to rank states by level of competitiveness, and see how factors such as population density, percentage of rural versus urban areas, and Internet usage and speeds consumed affect a state’s ranking.”

“The state of competition within the broadband industry continues to be a significant issue, and it’s absolutely critical to utilize objective data to shape the discussion as we move forward,” says Settles. “BroadBand Scout is the first resource to effectively deliver that data, and provides a valuable jumping-off point as we continue this important conversation.”

The authors drew several additional conclusions from their research, including:

•There is a strong correlation between income and home value and the level of competiveness in a state. As income and home values show an increase from state to state, the level of competition – as measured by the report – decreases.
•States with the largest percentage of Internet users and the highest available speed tend to be less competitive.
•The bulk of broadband stimulus funding did not go to states with the least competitive environments.
Since it launched in December 2009, BroadBand Scout has been providing similar connectivity, speed and carrier data to communities and broadband carriers applying for funding from the $7.2 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus program, and allowing broadband and wireless carriers to cost-effectively target new areas for service expansion and better research competitors. BroadBand Scout uses a unique analytical survey process of accessing millions of records in ID Insight’s proprietary databases that were initially assembled to track Internet usage activity.

Northfield, Minn.-based ID Insight, the innovator in Access-Point Intelligence, combines its massive collection of data on people and access points with patent-pending analytics to help companies research new markets, prevent fraud, reduce costs and capture more business. ID Insight provides next-generation market research, verification, authentication, and fraud solutions to financial services companies, credit issuers, retailers, online merchants and broadband providers nationwide. For more information, visit www.IDInsight.com.

Craig Settles, President of Successful.com, is an industry analyst and business strategist who helps private and public sector organizations implement broadband technology. Author of Fighting the Next Good Fight: Bringing True Broadband to Your Community, blogs and many in-depth reports, Settles is a prominent thought leader on executing appropriate broadband strategies. He is also Director of Communities United for Broadband, a national grass roots effort to assist communities launch their networks.