Recently the Federal Communications Commission conducted a survey to learn the patterns of Internet connectivity and usage in the United States. Surprisingly, almost one-third of the population, or around 93 million people (80 million adults, 13 million children), are not connected with broadband at home. A small number of them use dial-up access, or connect at places like their offices or libraries, but the vast majority simply do not connect anywhere.
The F.C.C. was mandated by Congress to produce a detailed plan with specific recommendations to hasten the national adoption of broadband in the U.S; the plan is expected to be unveiled in mid-March. It will recommend, among other elements, an expansion of broadband adoption from the current 65% to more than 90%, according to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the F.C.C. Mr. Genachowski is promoting faster and more pervasive broadband infrastructure as a tenet of economic growth and democracy—the free flow exchange of ideas is essential to our future development and freedom. John Horrigan, who oversaw the FCC survey, claims that in a world of digital information, the non-users are “at a distinct disadvantage.”
Previously the gap in access was between slower dial-up and faster broadband, but that has disappeared: only 6% of Americans still use dial-up while the vast majority of those online use broadband. “Overall Internet penetration has been steady in the mid-70 to upper-70 percent range over the last five years,” Mr. Horrigan said in an interview. “Now we’re at a point where, if you want broadband adoption to go up by any significant measure, you really have to start to eat into the segment of non-Internet-users.”
When asked about the reasons for not having high-speed internet access at home, almost half of respondents claimed it is due to prohibitive cost, while another 45% answered “yes” to the statement, “I am worried about all the bad things that can happen if I use the Internet.” A smaller number said that surfing the web was simply a waste of time (clearly these people have never known the joys of spending hours watching random video clips on YouTube…). So, in order to “eat away” at the segment of non-Internet-users, the plan that the FCC submits needs to combine elements of making access more affordable, enhancing cybersecurity for those who connect, and generally providing education and training so people know better how to navigate the Internet safely and productively.
Some interesting highlights of the study:
• 78 percent of adults are Internet users, whether that means broadband, dial-up, access from home or access from someplace other than home; 74 percent of adults have access at home.
• 67 percent of U.S. households contain a broadband user who accesses the service at home; 65 percent of adults are broadband adopters (the discrepancy of two percentage points between household and individual home use is due to survey respondents who are nonbroadband users living with someone who, at home, is).
• 6 percent of Americans use dial-up Internet connections as their main form of home access.
• 6 percent are Internet users but do not use it from home; they access the Internet from places such as work, the library, or community centers.
• College educated Americans earning $75k+ are most likely to have broadband while the lowest penetration is in folks over 65+, those who live in rural areas, and those with household incomes of less than $50,000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/technology/internet/23net.html?ref=technology
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/02/24/13-of-americans-dont-use-fast-internet/
No comments:
Post a Comment