Survey clocks Internet speeds and guess who's tops

Rhode Island may be known for PawSox baseball, four-flusher pols, and see-through chowders, but it's the place to be if you want fast Internet connections.

The Ocean State was tops for the second straight year in a survey that ranks states and US territories by real-time Internet connection speeds. Massachusetts ranked fifth, and Alaska was 51st in a survey commissioned by the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents more than 700,000 workers in such industries as telecommunications.

According to the survey, the same file that takes 30 seconds to download in Rhode Island would take more than four minutes for someone logged onto the Internet from Alaska. Other states with fast Internet connections include Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia, the survey found.

A key finding of the survey: The United States has not made significant improvements in deploying high-speed broadband networks in the last year, and the United States continues to lag behind many other industrial countries.

Those interested in learning more details about the survey can click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)