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Facebook The USA trails other industrialized nations in high-speed Internet access and may never catch up unless quick action is taken by public-policymakers, a report commissioned by the Communications Workers of America warns. The median U.S. download speed now is 1.97 megabits per second — a fraction of the 61 megabits per second enjoyed by consumers in Japan, says the report released Monday. Other speedy countries include South Korea (median 45 megabits), France (17 megabits) and Canada (7 megabits). "We have pathetic speeds compared to the rest of the world," CWA President Larry Cohen says. "People don't pay attention to the fact that the country that started the commercial Internet is falling woefully behind." Speed matters on the Internet. A 10-megabyte file takes about 15 seconds to download with a 5-megabit connection — fast for the USA. Download time with a 545-kilobit connection, about the entry-level speed in many areas: almost 2½ minutes. Broadband speed is a function of network capacity: The more capacity you have, the more speed you can deliver. Speed, in turn, allows more and better Internet applications, such as photo sharing and video streaming. Superfast speeds are imperative for critical applications such as telemedicine. In recent years, communities also have found that good broadband is essential to draw businesses and jobs. For all those reasons, Cohen says, it is important for policymakers to act now: "In order to maintain our place in today's global economy — and to create the jobs we need — our government must act." The CWA report is based on input from 80,000 broadband users (less than 5% of respondents used dial-up). In addition to drawing comparisons with other countries, the report ranks U.S. states on median download speeds. (Upload speeds are also rated.) The Federal Communications Commission, which has broad sway over the emerging broadband market, defines "high speed" as 200 kilobits per second. The benchmark was adopted more than a dozen years ago when still-slower dial-up was the rule. Cohen says 200 kilobits is not even recognized as broadband in most countries today. "There is nothing speedy about it." The FCC in April opened a proceeding that could result in the redefinition of what can be advertised as "broadband Internet service" in this country. "We're asking the question if the definition should be changed," spokeswoman Tamara Lipper says. The comment period ended May 31, and a report from the FCC is likely in the fall. Internet on-ramp speeds by state Median broadband Internet access speed for each state in testing by the Communications Workers of America. Test your speed at http://www.speedmatters.org. State Median download speed (mbps) Speed rank USA 1.973 Alaska 0.545 51 Alabama 1.777 25 Arkansas 1.326 42 Arizona 1.635 29 California 1.520 36 Colorado 1.354 41 Connecticut 2.244 15 District of Columbia 1.372 39 Delaware 2.657 9 Florida 2.368 13 Georgia 2.714 7 Hawaii 1.965 23 Iowa 1.262 47 Idaho 1.323 43 Illinois 2.184 17 Indiana 1.955 24 Kansas 4.167 2 Kentucky 1.607 32 Louisiana 2.751 6 Massachusetts 3.004 5 Maryland 2.589 10 Maine 1.534 35 Michigan 2.042 19 Minnesota 1.771 26 Missouri 1.432 38 Mississippi 1.620 30 Montana 1.312 45 North Carolina 2.225 16 North Dakota 1.308 46 Nebraska 1.994 22 New Hampshire 2.700 8 New Jersey 3.680 3 New Mexico 1.716 27 Nevada 1.617 31 New York 3.436 4 Ohio 1.359 40 Oklahoma 1.689 28 Oregon 2.390 12 Pennsylvania 1.567 33 Rhode Island 5.011 1 South Carolina 2.338 14 South Dakota 0.825 50 Tennessee 2.035 20 Texas 1.509 37 Utah 1.323 43 Virginia 2.394 11 Vermont 2.005 21 Washington 2.176 18 Wisconsin 1.551 34 West Virginia 1.117 49 Wyoming 1.246 48 Speed tests results for Sept. 2006 through May 2007; most participants had DSL or cable modem connections Source: CWA Communications Share this story: Digg del.icio.us Newsvine Reddit Facebook Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.