NTIA ANNOUNCES NEW FINDINGS ON
Broadband Adoption at Home Continues to Rise, Digital Divide Persists
“Broadband Internet access is critical to creating jobs in
Highlights of DIGITAL NATION: 21st Century America’s Progress Towards Universal Broadband Internet Access include:
· Broadband Internet access at home continues to grow: 64 percent of households have broadband access compared to 51 percent in October 2007.
· Notable disparities between demographic groups continue: people with low incomes, seniors, minorities, the less-educated, non-family households, and the non-employed tend to lag behind other groups in home broadband use.
· While the digital divide between urban and rural areas has lessened since 2007, it remains significant. In 2009, two-thirds (66 percent) of urban households and only 54 percent of rural households accessed broadband Internet service, compared to 54 percent of urban households and 39 percent of rural households in 2007.
· Overall, the two most commonly cited reasons for not having broadband Internet access at home are that it is perceived as not needed (38 percent) or too expensive (26 percent). Besides these value and affordability concerns, Americans also cite the lack of a computer as a major factor. In rural
· Americans who do not use the Internet in any location most commonly cite insufficient value, or no need, as the reason. In contrast, households that have dial-up access to the Internet as well as households without any type of Internet access at home most frequently cite cost as the reason they do not have broadband access at home.
· Despite the growing importance of the Internet in American life, 30 percent of all persons do not use the Internet in any location.
A full copy of the report is available at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2010/NTIA_internet_use_report_Feb2010.pdf
This report is based on the first data sets released by the Census Bureau, which is available to the public through http://www.data.gov. In the coming months, the Census Bureau will provide NTIA with more geographically and demographically detailed data.
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More information is available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov .
CONTACT: Jessica Schafer 202-482-5670
or press@ntia.doc.gov