How is the Internet Market in Arkansas?

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arkansas state

About Arkansas State

Located in the South-Central region of the country, this state borders the Missouri, Tennesse, Luisiana, Texas and Oklahoma states. “Arkansas” was the name used by the early French explorers to refer to Quapaw indigenous people that lived in Ozark Mountains caves, which belong to this state’s territory. Other Native American groups lived there, such as the Osage, the Chickasaw, Tunica and the Caddo.

“The Natural State” is the current nickname of the Arkansan state, which can be explained by the fact that its territory has a great diversity of lakes, rivers, mountains and wildlife. Historically, the state was one big stage of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, especially Little Rock city.

This city is the capital of Arkansas and is also the most populous and the largest city of the state and, as it is in the central part of Arkansas, it also plays a significant role in transportation, culture, government, and business fields.

The Arkansas economy took a long time to develop and move away from the rural basis’s dependency. As a very politically conservative center, Arkansas only began to diversify its economy after the World War II.

In the 21st century, industries like steel, tourism, aircraft, service along with commodities (cotton, soybeans, rice) have been relevant players in this state’s economy overall. In 2018, according to IBISWorld, as of 2018, some of the strongest employment sectors in Arkansas’ economy were Social Assistance and Health Care, Retail trade and Professional and Scientific and Technical services.

Most Popular Providers in AR

When we look to the overall Arkansas state’s internet market, we see about 136 internet service providers that are currently offering internet services there.

Different types of networks can be found, such as: Cable, DSL, Fiber and Satellite services, depending on the specific location of each customer. However, according to the FCC, the most common types of broadband chosen in this state are DSL and Cable.

The internet plans that are available in one part of the State will not always be offered on the next county. This is frequent in most places, as there are still gaps on the services’ structures. Plus, the larger or the lowest its population density, often the worst it is the internet technology distribution.

On Arkansas’ case, still, there are good options available on the internet service providers menu, in terms of popularity and reliability. In rural areas, people usually prefer to contract satellite internet plans while in more urban locations, fiber-optic will be more available instead. See below the providers with the highest coverage and popularity in Arkansas:

SATELLITE INTERNET

99%

COVERAGE

DSL AND FIXED WIRELESS

99%

COVERAGE

DSL AND FIXED WIRELESS

98%

COVERAGE

DSL AND FIXED WIRELESS

99%

COVERAGE

DSL AND FIXED WIRELESS

99%

COVERAGE

Internet Connection in AR

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Currently, the Arkansas State is in a relatively low position on the broadband accessibility ranking of all the American States.

It comes as the 41st in the list, as still 20% of Arkansas residents cannot access wired broadband services with 25 Mbps or higher speeds, which is officially called a “advanced service” by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

In addition to that, 563,000 Arkansans can access only one wired network service provider from their households’ locations.

On the other side, in terms of access to affordable services, the State shows positive data, as 52.7% of people that live in Arkansas can access low priced internet plans (60$ per month or less), being the national average 51.5%.

Internet Speeds by City

Check out the 5 top cities with the fastest internet connections!

Only 11.7% of the population in Arkansas can access fiber-optic internet services. In comparison to the national average, which is 25%, this rate shows that the fiber technology is still in progress there.

The fiber gap is symptomatic of the overall low performance of internet service in the state. Although, the Arkansan general download speed is considerably faster than the other states in general: 104.1 Mbps.

The general average speeds in all the state territory is of 72.9 Mbps, and it is possible to find gig internet services there from major providers such as Xfinity, CenturyLink, Cox, Windstream, Suddenlink A and AT&T.

Check now how internet services are distributed by speeds there:

  • 95.1% have access to wired broadband with 25 Mbps speeds or more.
  • 94.9% have access to 100 Mbps or more.
  • 23.9% have access to 1 gigabit speeds.

Internet Speeds by City

Check out the 5 top cities with the fastest internet connections!

CITY
AVG. DOWNLOAD SPEED
1. Little Rock
62.1 MBPS
2. Fort Smith
124.4 MBPS
3. Fayetteville
94.7 MBPS
4. Springdale
159.9 MBPS
5. Jonesboro
134.2 MBPS

Types of Internet

The main types of network connections are fairly distributed throughout the state, configurating the scenario below:

75% Cable

88% DSL

11% Fiber Optic

47% Satellite

Best Cities to Connect

In 2019 the Federal Communications Commission estimated that about 20% of American had access to a 1 Gigabit internet, which is an ultra-fast speed. Plus, about 80% of them had access to a high-speed broadband (25 Mbps).

In Alaska, the broadband accessibility did not reach the expected rate. Nor the high-speed services are available there due to a sparsely populated territory that also include an intense inequity in terms of internet technology access.

According to the US News, and considering indicators of access and subscriptions per speeds, Oregon State is in the 32nd position of the States ranking in terms of how easy is to access internet services.

The research also pointed out that the state is the 15th in terms of broadband subscription rate in comparison with the other 49 American States and in 5th in terms of access to gigabit internet.

Now see below the best 6 cities in Alaska in terms of internet service providers coverage (and their respective availability averages):

arkansas-state
  • Pulaski 98.20%
  • Washington 97.70%
  • Saline 94.50%
  • Benton 94.00%
  • Faulkner 93.80%

Still in terms of general average speeds in Alaska, comparing all the locations in the territory, some other fast cities, and their respective average in Mbps are:

  • Jacksonville (23)
  • West Memphis (21)
  • Marion (20)
  • Farmington (19)

You may need a mobile phone

Did you know that, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there are around 3,1 million mobile phone lines in Arkansas ---slightly more than one for every person living in the state.

If you live in Arkansas and are looking for the best plan for your mobile, you came to the right place. But if you don’t live in Alaska, but are going to the state for vacations or work, you also may need a plan. And we also have it.

Cleverping has a series of mobile phone plans for you, with high speed internet if you need to stay connected throughout the day, or international calls if you need to keep in touch with your family, friends or boss around the globe.

As we use to say here in Cleverping, the important thing to remember is that the best carrier provider is the one that better suits your needs.

Some carriers are focussed on coverage, others on price and value.We have options for different types of coverage and network as well.

To find out the best plan for your needs, check out our mobile phone guide. You can compare different services, values and types of coverage to find the deal for you, even if you are traveling alone or with your family.

And, since you are here, what about traveling to Arkansas?

Like almost every state in the United States of America, Arkansas has its own travel guide provided by the local government.

If you are looking for what to do around there, it is a good place to start your research. You can either ask for a physical paper guide, that will be delivered to your home address, or download the virtual version to enjoy it at the tip of your fingers, at your notebook or smartphone.

The state has a lot of attractions to its visitors.

You can go to a casino and try your luck (but be aware of the risks, ok?); experiment a series of sports, such as canoeing, kayaking, cycling, mountain bilink, hiking, hunting, golfing, water sports and more.

It is also a famous state for its fall weather and beautiful colors at that time of the year.

There are several options for lodging, from camping to resorts, and you can search for what is best for your mood. It also has good restaurants, and the local food is best known for barbecues, pies and its Italian and Mexican traditional recipes.

For all of that, you will need to stay connected. So let's take a look at the best you can do in the top connected cities in the state.

Pulaski

Pulaski County is the most populous in Arkansas, with a total population of almost 400,000. Most of that is at Little Rock, the largest city in the state and its capital.

Nearly half of Arkansas's population lives in the city, in the center of the state, at the bank of the Arkansas River.

And the hub of the city is the River Market. That is the place to go if you want to do some shopping, have a nice beer, enjoy the city’s nightlife, find museums, Little Rock’s main library and, of course, good hotels to stay in. There are options for everyone.

But the capital city’s name is not for nothing. It is because, as you can imagine, of a little rock.

The story comes back to the time when Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe, who travelled those sites for years, noted a landmark that he called the “French Rock”, which is now called the “Big Rock”. He has also found a smaller rock, that he baptized as “La Petite Roche”, which in english means “the little rock”, and it is where the state's capital is located until today.

The city has lots of parks, from the Clinton Presidential Park Wetlands to the La Petite Roche Plaza, that surround the little rock after which the city was named.

If you like history and arts, you can take a look at the long list of museum: Arkansas Arts Center, Purse Museum, the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Historic Arkansas Museum, Old State House Museum, Mount Holly Cemetery and MacArthur Museum of Military History, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, EMOBA or the Central High School Museum.

The city hosts the Cheese Dip Festival, where you can find good cheese, and the Jazz in the Park, where you can find some good jazz music to maybe post on Instagram.

Washington

Washington city in Arkansas is not the capital of the United States. Indeed, it is small, but it is priceless.

Until today, it is a common stpo from those traveling west from Mexico, because it is located near the country’s border. Also was home to many of those who volunteer to fight at the Mexican War.

It is where the Bowie Knife, now known as the symbol of Arkansas and the United State frontier, was originally made.

For around two years, during the Civil War, it was also the state’s capital, a period in which the city experienced great importance. After the war, it became a refugee center for soldiers of the Confederacy.

You can find everything about the city’s priceless history at the Old Washington Park and the city’s historic villages.

It has historical buildings you can visit and learn more about taking a tour through the park. You will also find demonstrations and workshops of sewing, candle making, blacksmithing, forging and harness diving, activities that brings together memories of other times.

Washington is also home to the only bladesmithing college in the United States, the American Bladesmith Society, dedicated to the art of crafting knives and swords.

It is a city, but it is also a slice of the country’s past preserved through the present days.

Saline

Have you ever heard the name Thomas Hart Benton?

He was a famous painter and muralist (died in 1975, at the age of 85). He’s work was focused on showing day to day life of the United States.

But he also is the reason behind the name of the city Benton, the largest city in Saline County.

It is located between Little Rock and Hot Springs and offers some calm and quiet time if you are traveling from one of those cities to the other.

The city has emerged because of the discovery of bauxite ore, the source for making aluminum. Until today, it is the only city in the United States where you can commercially mine it.

The Gann Museum of Saline County is the only house in the world (as far as we know) built in the city’s most famous ore, bauxite, and can provide visitors a lot of history and also art, with an unique collection of Niloak Pottery.

It is a nice city for you to find some precious antique, along with the city of Bryant, located just nearby.

You can do some fishing at the Saline River, or visit the Royal Theater, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Faulkner

The county of Faulkner is the fifth more populous in Arkansas, with a total population of 113,000. And its largest city is Conway, also known as the “City of Colleges”.

Just 30 miles from Little Rock, it offers you abundant landscapes of natural beauty and is a excepcional place to have some outdoor adventure.

If you like fishing, Lake Conway is the place to go: with 6,700 acres, it is the largest man-made game and fish lake in the United States. Other alternatives include Beaverfork Lake and Toad Suck Park, at the Arkansas River.

It is a great place to eat. There are award-winning steaks, pizza joints, Italian pasta restaurants and Mexican food.

The most famous festival of the city is the Toad Suck Daze. The name tells you a story about local folklore. It is told that back when the Arkansas River was largely used by steamboats, captains and crews used the Toad Stuck Lock and Dam as the place to wait when the water level was not at the correct deeph.

They used to stay at local taverns, but the local community did not to like it very much and created the saying: "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads." Therefore, the name Toad Suck for them.

Today, the festival happens in May and is a family-friend place where you can find nice food.

But the so-called City of Colleges would be much without its… colleges.

The most important ones are the University of Central Arkansas, the Hendrix College, and the Central Baptist College. They are also key for the city’s art scene.

Faulkner is home to Arkansas' only professional Shakespeare academy, the Shakespeare Theater. The Baum Gallery is focused on creating a dialog between arts and relevant social themes.

Best Providers by Activity

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