Report Shows Broadband Progress And Divide
A new report released Tuesday by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration shows that while the nation has made progress in the number of households that now get broadband Internet service, minorities, seniors, less-educated, unemployed and low-income households still lag behind other populations.
The NTIA survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau of more than 50,000 households, found that 64 percent of U.S. households have broadband access compared to 51 percent in October 2007. But despite this growth, there is a rural-urban divide with nearly two-thirds of urban households reporting accessing broadband service at home compared with 54 percent of rural households. These figures have improved since 2007 when 54 percent of urban households and 39 percent of rural households had broadband.
The survey also found big income disparities in broadband adoption with 89 percent of those making $150,000 or more had broadband service at home compared with just 19 percent for those making $15,000 or less.
The two top reasons cited by all of those surveyed for not getting broadband service include a perception that they do not need such service or that it is too expensive. Rural residents, however, cited a lack of access to broadband more often than urban residents.
In prepared remarks Tuesday for a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' conference, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski noted that roughly 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband, while 100 million Americans households that do have access do not get it because "they can't afford broadband, don't know how to use it, or aren't aware of its potential benefits."
Congress included $7.2 billion in last year's economic stimulus package to help spur broadband access and adoption nationwide and the FCC is crafting a national broadband plan that Genachowski described as a "thoughtful, pragmatic, strategic plan to close these gaps."
"While it is encouraging that Americans across virtually all demographic groups and geographic areas are using broadband at higher rates than ever before, a significant portion of the population is still not online," NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling said in a statement. "Through [economic stimulus] funding and other initiatives, the Obama Administration is working to close this gap and help create economic opportunities for more Americans."
Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner said in a statement the NTIA data shows that the FCC should focus "its policies on promoting robust competition that lowers prices and promotes innovation. It must also act to preserve the Internet as an open communications platform, which will in turn facilitate the availability of diverse content that will help raise the value of the Internet for those who haven't adopted the expensive and slow services that unfortunately characterize the U.S. broadband market."
Categories:
Broadband
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus