How fast are Maryland internet speeds?

Internet speeds are reportedly getting faster nationwide.

That’s a good thing, because having high-speed home internet has never been more important as it’s been during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Maryland declares a state of emergency due to hospitalizations from the Omicron variant, home internet will become more vital to work, school and everywhere in between in an increasingly digital world.

Highspeedinternet.com has released State of the Internet 2021, compiling research and reports it’s done on internet speeds and internet service providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon across the country. (Note that at least one of the reports it references, “The 10 Fastest and Slowest States for Internet Speeds in 2021” published in April 2021, uses data compiled between Feb. 1, 2020 and March 16, 2021. So, although the reports say 2021, the org is really discussing the year of 2020.)

During its longitudinal studies of internet speeds across the country the site found average internet speeds rose to 99.3 Mbps, from a pre-pandemic 42.86 Mbps.

Other key findings include a drop in satisfaction with ISPs across the board during the pandemic:

In Baltimore, that dissatisfaction was felt through the protests of  Students Organizing a Multicultural and Open Society about Comcast internet speeds, and outcry from Baltimore City Council members such as Zeke Cohen and Kris Burnett about ISPs causing digital redlining. These grassroots movements came alongside action from Comcast like delaying data caps until 2022 — we’re now in 2022 and the pandemic is still raging; will they be postponed again? — and doubling the speeds of its low-cost Internet Essentials package.

Maryland was among the top five states with the fastest internet speeds in 2020, with an average of 118.2 Mbps download speeds. Before the pandemic, it was number one.

In a world where remote work is becoming the norm, states’ internet speeds can be as important as their property values or tax benefits they offer to attract residents and business. The state government is already conducting speed surveys statewide to determine where Maryland needs to improve and how it should use the $300 million in COVID-19 relief funds designated for broadband infrastructure and any funding it gets from the federal infrastructure bill’s $65 billion meant for broadband infrastructure.

Internet connection and speeds are new benchmarks for state success. As more states establish an Office of Statewide Broadband, they’ll become a bigger focus within statewide initiatives.

Baltimore was number six of metros with the fastest internet speeds across the nation with an average of 120.9 Mbps download speed.

In more recent data collection and estimates of the Q3 months of July, August and September 2021 from speedtest.net, Maryland is sixth in the nation based on median download and upload speeds at 133.33Mbps and 34.52Mbps, respectively.

For a city that’s seeing a decline in population, highlighting an area the city stands out in, like internet speeds, could give professionals a reason to set down roots in Charm City.

Donte Kirby is a 2020-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.