Raleigh is the kind of tech-forward city that, innovative as it is, often gets overlooked in favor of San Francisco, San Jose or Seattle. But this year the North Carolina capital passed its flashier rivals to grab the No. 1 spot on Forbes’ Most Wired Cities list.
Raleigh’s win means it ranks higher overall than any other U.S. city in three measures: broadband penetration, broadband access and plentiful wi-fi hot spots. Taken together, the factors point to a populace that readily uses high-speed Internet inside and outside the home.
At stake is more than just bragging rights. As the U.S. formulates a national broadband plan designed to connect the entire country to fast, affordable Internet, Raleigh and other top-ranking Wired Cities could serve as models for change.
Though a surprise winner, Raleigh boasts plenty of technology assets, including a high concentration of info-tech companies, research universities and state government offices.
Several tech powerhouses, such as IBM<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=IBM> ( IBM<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=IBM> – news <http://search.forbes.com/search/CompanyNewsSearch?ticker=IBM> – people <http://people.forbes.com/search?ticker=IBM> ), Cisco<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=CSCO> ( CSCO<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=CSCO> – news <http://search.forbes.com/search/CompanyNewsSearch?ticker=CSCO> – people <http://people.forbes.com/search?ticker=CSCO> ) and Lenovo<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=LNVGY.PK> ( LNVGY.PK<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=LNVGY.PK> – news <http://search.forbes.com/search/CompanyNewsSearch?ticker=LNVGY.PK> – people <http://people.forbes.com/search?ticker=LNVGY.PK> ), maintain large offices in North Carolina’s nearby Research Triangle Park. Raleigh and its surrounding cities are also home to North Carolina State University, Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This combination of a highly educated and relatively higher-income population is “fertile ground” for high broadband demand and usage, says Brooks Raiford, head of the North Carolina Technology Association trade group. Regular folks can exploit Raleigh’s IT resources too. The city’s downtown is covered by a wi-fi network that is free to users. Operator Sprint Nextel<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=S> ( S<http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=S> – news <http://search.forbes.com/search/CompanyNewsSearch?ticker=S> – people <http://people.forbes.com/search?ticker=S> ) recently launched its “4G” next-generation mobile broadband in Raleigh and the rest of the “Triangle”–months before larger cities like Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., will get the service. “We’re very lucky to be at the epicenter of a lot of market strengths for these different companies,” says Raiford.