FCC Releases Broadband Survey
As part of its effort to craft a national broadband plan, the FCC released a survey Tuesday that showed one-third of Americans are not connected to high-speed broadband Internet services. The primary reasons these 93 million Americans cite for not having broadband service include affordability and a lack of digital skills needed to take advantage of the technology, the FCC found.
The FCC conducted a national random digit-dial survey of 5,005 adults in October and November 2009 to examine Americans attitudes toward broadband. It found 35 percent, 80 million adults and 13 million children over the age of five, do not have broadband connections at home.
"In the 21st century, a digital divide is an opportunity divide," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who unveiled the survey during a speech at the Brookings Institution, said in a statement. "To bolster American competitiveness abroad and create the jobs of the future here at home, we need to make sure that all Americans have the skills and means to fully participate in the digital economy."
The report found three main barriers to broadband adoption. With an average monthly cost of $41, affordability was cited by 36 percent of those surveyed, or 28 million adults, as the primary reason they do not subscribe to broadband at home. But 17 million adults, or 22 percent, of those surveyed said they do not have the digital skills or are concerned about the potential hazards posed by Internet surfing such as the security of their personal information or exposure to inappropriate content. And 19 percent of those surveyed, or 15 million adults, said they don't get broadband because they believe "the Internet is a waste of time, there is no online content of interest to them or, for dial-up users, they are content with their current service."
National Telecommunications and Telecommunications Association President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow said the survey "confirms that increasing broadband adoption in the U.S. will require a holistic approach to address the key reasons why consumers have not yet subscribed, including affordability, relevance to their lives, lack of a computer and inadequate digital training." He noted in a statement that cable providers have proposed a broadband program that would help middle school students from low-income families obtain broadband by offering discounted service and providing training.
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