In a recent opinion piece on the ever-provocative Huffington Post, writer Timothy Karr declared “America's Internet—Now as Good as Angola's!” Hyperbole? Of course. But according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's “Exploring the Digital Divide” report, released last month, some states are just not living up to their connectivity potential. Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New Mexico have the dubious distinction of being the five worst states for broadband adoption—with percentages of 55%, 52%, 58%, 51%, and 58%, respectively. Overall, the average broadband penetration rate for the entire U.S. is about 65%. But in the bluegrass state, the public-private partnership ConnectKentucky has been working since 2002 to address the state's need for broadband—taking a county-level holistic approach to promote “a statewide technology acceleration program.” The vision for ConnectKentucky started out in response to the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000; it has since become a national model for broadband deployment and the basis for the Broadband Data Improvement Act, which was funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

According to ConnectKentucky's Executive Director René True, the Commerce Department report is an accurate portrayal of what is occurring in Kentucky. The lower rates are mostly due to the state’s rural nature and relatively low per capita income. As a result, True believes that ConnectKentucky needs to work on “a project-by-project basis,” in order to tap into the potential of wireless broadband and design networks that fit individual community and county needs.

It would be an understatement to say that ConnectKentucky has its hands in nearly every rural town and county in the state; in fact, in many of those areas, ConnectKentucky has led wireless broadband initiatives by mapping broadband gaps, assisting with wireless network design, drafting requests for proposals, and overseeing broadband network build-outs. True explained that ConnectKentucky is an organization that targets unserved and underserved areas, then works to bring broadband to those communities.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, ConnectKentucky is able to suit broadband services to the needs of individual areas. In some cases, that means going with AT&T (NYSE:T) or Windstream (NasdaqGS:WIN) for network build out, but often the group works with providers who are already in place in those areas, such as Altius Communications, Q-Wireless, KY Wi-Max, and Foundation Communications. According to True, “Connect Kentucky has been involved with some of the smallest broadband communications players serving rural Kentucky.” In fact, he said, “from a pure deployment of services to rural unserved areas, ConnectKentucky is much more likely to be talking with small local companies rather than bigger multi-state companies.”

One such initiative includes “Coal to Broadband”—an innovative project that is funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and matching multi-county coal severance funds. ConnectKentucky oversees the initiative by providing technical assistance and project management, from conducting research and public awareness campaigns to assisting with network design proposals. This September the group announced it had selected wireless broadband provider Altius Communications for Coal to Broadband's ConnectBELP network build out; the fixed wireless microwave network will connect Breathitt, Estill, Lee, and Powell counties in eastern Kentucky. “The sparse population and rugged topography of the four counties make it difficult for residents to receive broadband services were it not for a public/private partnership,” True said. He also noted that “original funding amounts from ARC and Kentucky Department for Local Development coal severance grants totaled $630,600.”

In other counties of the state, ConnectKentucky has worked to secure broadband for a seven-county region of the state in the ConnectGRADD project. At the outset Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union, and Webster counties had next to no broadband access, particularly in the most rural areas. The rolling hills and sparse population made the regions unappealing to larger providers and traditional wired broadband, but it was a perfect proving-ground for wireless broadband. The seven constituent county governments asked ConnectKentucky to assist them in finding vendors who would build a network reaching nearly 100% of households and businesses. The completed network coverage included nearly 100% of existing industrial parks, more than 93% of residences, and offers free wireless hotspots for public use. According to True, “The ConnectGRADD project is serving over 1,800 customers, starting from a zero base.”

Danville-based KY Wi-Max was the local broadband provider of choice for ConnectKentucky's project in Washington County, and True recently said that Glasgow-based South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative plans to team with Windstream to build broadband networks affecting small portions of Warren County.

In addition to a county-by-county approach, ConnectKentucky also assists in bringing broadband to individual towns. Such was the case in Prestonburg and Williamstown, where local cable providers didn't reach outside town limits and residents were left without broadband services. With a fixed wireless broadband system now in place, not only do rural residents surrounding Williamstown enjoy broadband connectivity, but Grant County now has a 94% broadband footprint, up from 58%.

Each of these wireless broadband initiatives echo the competitive growth rates our own Richelle Elberg predicted back in November. She wrote that, in the next few years, “we think the wireless substitution factor and higher overall penetration [will] force wired broadband connections into a slow decline. Admittedly wireless isn’t a perfect solution for all broadband applications, but on the other hand, it’s likely to get better and it’s mobile.” For certain rural areas, of course, wireless broadband is the most cost-effective and the most practical in terms of infrastructure build out—and one can't help but note how partnerships between local providers, national providers, city governments and other municipalities are becoming the norm in areas like rural Kentucky.

But does build out always equal adoption? It seems every broadband penetration study notes that those who aren't connected don't necessarily want to be, nor do they feel that broadband is useful to them. In these cases, True said changing the adoption rate is going to require showing the relevancy of broadband, providing it affordably and increasing technology literacy. “It’s going to require real grass-roots, community-level efforts,” he said.

For ConnectKentucky, such grass-roots efforts are manifest through public relations campaigns and community involvement projects. True noted ConnectKentucky's Computers 4 Kids program, which “brings together public and private partners to help disadvantaged children and their families join the Information Age.” He said that the program has “successfully placed over 3300 computers and other technology with disadvantaged kids and families, not-for-profit after school programs, community centers, libraries, and schools.” These computers and the (hopefully) accompanying broadband availability is crucial to areas of Appalachia, True said. “Without broadband availability, rural communities will fall further behind economically, educationally, and from a total quality of life view.”

As an example of a community-specific technology development program, True also mentioned the work accomplished through ConnectKentucky's Connect Equestrian View initiative. Focused on the Equestrian View neighborhood—a low-income area of eastern Kentucky—this project not only brings hardware like computers and printers to disadvantaged families, but also “subsidizes up to six months of broadband access, technology training and other technology resources to increase access, adoption, and use of technology by residents,” according to True. The project is a partnership with the Kentucky Housing Authority, Lexington Housing Authority, and Lexmark.

While ConnectKentucky's community involvement doesn't necessarily provide a monetary return-on-investment or follow a typical business strategy, it does work on closing the broadband gap in its own way—by addressing unserved and underserved areas and, at least for a time, providing opportunities for residents to see broadband's potential. For True, this is central to ConnectKentucky's overall mission to foster broadband growth in the state through an abundance of partnerships, all with varying but complementary goals. True calls broadband “the killer app” for rural areas and hopefully, for ConnectKentucky and all its partners, their efforts will be enough to one day deem Kentucky “broadband's most improved.