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With Utah at the forefront, millions of Americans signed up for broadband Internet access in the past decade, but "digital divides" persist between different income levels, ethnic groups and geographical areas of the country, according to a new government report.
More than 63.5 percent of U.S. households had broadband Internet access at home in 2009, up from just 9.2 percent in 2001, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Monday. No matter how government analysts sliced the data, each segment of the population studied showed dramatic gains in broadband adoption.
The Western region of the country had the highest rate of broadband adoption at 68 percent, while the South was the lowest with 60 percent.
Despite that, California's relative ranking among states fell from 2001, when it ranked No. 4 with 13 percent of households having broadband at home. Last year, California ranked 14th, with 68 percent of households having broadband access. Leading the states last year was Utah, where 73 percent of households had broadband access.
But the report made clear that despite these gains, the nation continues to see a digital divide in broadband adoption. First identified by policymakers in the 1990s, the digital divide represents the difference in Internet adoption rates between different groups of the population, typically between high-income and low-income families, between younger and older Americans or between whites and other ethnic groups.
In the latest report, the Commerce Department found that 23 percent of Americans don't use the Internet at all. Another 8 percent use the Internet, but not at home. And 5 percent of Americans have only dial-up access at home.
Some of the demographic and regional breakdowns showed even starker differences. Although 91.5 percent of American households with more than $75,000 in annual income had broadband Internet access at home, just 35.8 percent of households with less than $25,000 in income did. Similarly, among households where the head of household has a college degree or higher, 84.5 percent have broadband access. Among households where the head of household doesn't have a high school diploma, just 28.8 percent have broadband access.
"The digital divide is an opportunity divide," said Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, in a statement. "If you can't get online, you can't compete in the digital economy.
"Closing these gaps is one of the top priorities of the FCC's National Broadband Plan and a key focus of the agency."
Among those who don't have broadband at home, the top reasons listed were that they weren't interested or didn't see a need for it, it was too expensive or they either didn't have a computer or didn't have one that was adequate for accessing broadband.
Despite the lingering gaps, those most affected by the divide have seen dramatic gains in broadband adoption. In 2001, just 4.7 percent of black households had broadband Internet access. In 2009, 49.4 percent of those households did. Broadband adoption among Hispanic and American Indian households grew from 5.3 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, in 2001 to 47.9 percent and 48.3 percent in 2009. Among households whose head was 65 or older, adoption grew from 3.1 percent to 39.9 percent.
Despite the sizable increases, those groups still lag the highest levels of broadband access. More than 77.3 percent of Asian-American households and 68 percent of white ones had broadband access in 2009. And 71.2 percent of households whose head was 16 to 44 had broadband access that year.
Gaps also persist among areas of the country. Among urban households, 65.9 percent had broadband Internet access in 2009, up from 10.5 percent in 2001. By contrast, only 51 percent of rural households had broadband access last year, up from 3.8 percent in 2001. —
Broadband U.S.A.
What the study found • The U.S. still faces a significant gap in residential broadband use that breaks down along incomes, education levels and other socioeconomic factors. That's the case even as the overall percentage of households that connect to the Internet using broadband grew to 63.5 percent in 2009 from 9.2 percent in 2001.
Where the data come from • The new Commerce Department analysis is based on a census survey of 54,000 households in October 2009.
Why the data matter • The study is very likely to help guide Congress and the Federal Communications Commission as they develop policies to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high-speed Internet service.