VIAVI Solutions has released Gigabit deployment status report – saying California leads the Gigabit internet deployment in the U.S. with more Gigabit internet availability than any other state.

The report said Gigabit internet is available to over 8.5 million consumers in California.

Colorado, with a population of just over 5.5 million, has Gigabit internet available to 5.25 million of its inhabitants, making it the state with the most Gigabit availability per head.

The most Gigabit-connected metropolitan area in the United States is Chicago, with over six million people with Gigabit internet availability. Chicago has more Gigabit internet availability than many industrialized nations including Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

United States currently has Gigabit internet available to more people than any other country – 57.5 million consumers, or 18 percent of the populace. The U.S. is followed by South Korea, Turkey then Canada.

Gigabit leaders — in terms of percentage of population coverage — are Singapore, South Korea, Moldova and Portugal with 95 percent, 93 percent, 90 percent and 64 percent of their populations covered respectively.

“Service and field technicians need to acquire more complex skills with additional training to test and troubleshoot high-speed connectivity issues, and legacy test instruments can’t even measure Gigabit speed,” said Sameh Yamany, chief technology officer of VIAVI Solutions.

VIAVI provides modular testing solutions that work across Wi-Fi, DSL, fiber, wireless and coaxial cable networks.