The Internet facilitates an ever-growing range of activities and applications such as educating children; accessing information from across the globe; connecting with people, governments, and organizations; obtaining information about health care; conducting price comparisons; bidding on contracts; and widening entertainment choices. As the volume and complexity of the Internet’s content has grown, so has the need for high-speed access technologies. In light of this trend, it will become increasingly important for Americans to have affordable access to broadband service.

The report demonstrates that broadband use is growing swiftly, and that broadband technologies are expanding the range and frequency of Internet use. Yet, not all geographic locations in the United States are using high-speed services to the same degree. Future surveys will enable us to track our progress in ensuring that all Americans have access to this important information technology

Tags: wireless, DSL. T1, high speed internet access. broadband, cable modem, broad band

When asked, the reasons given for why some Americans choose not to use the Internet or broadband technologies extend beyond issues of geography. Many Americans—41.3 percent of the total U.S. population—still do not use the Internet from any location. But, only 32.4 percent of U.S. households do not contain at least one person who uses the Internet. The key reasons given by those households that have never connected to the Internet at home suggest problems of cost/value and availability, including: “Don’t Need/Not Interested” (41.6 percent), “Too Expensive” (22.9 percent), and “No or Inadequate Computer Available” (22.5 percent). Affordability and computer availability are even more important for those who had Internet service but discontinued it. Major reasons for discontinuing home Internet use include “No or Inadequate Computer Available” (27.5 percent), “Too Expensive” (27.2 percent), and “Don’t Need/Not Interested” (18.4 percent)

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Tags: high speed internet access. broadband, DSL. T1, broad band, wireless, cable modem

In general, home broadband adoption rates vary in ways similar to overall Internet adoption rates, although there are some important geographic differences. As shown in Figure 9, rates of dial-up usage are roughly the same across geographic regions. However, broadband rates are higher in the West and Northeast than in the South and Midwest.

As shown in Table 3, broadband connections at home are less prevalent in rural America (24.7 percent) than in urban areas (40.4 percent), particularly in central cities (40.9 percent). The 2003 CPS supplement found that in rural areas, subscribership for both cable modems (14.3 percent) and DSL (9.2 percent) is lower than national averages (20.6 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively). While broadband usage has grown significantly in all areas since the previous survey, the rural-urban differential continues. However, wireless technologies such as satellite and MMDS are promising technologies for increasing broadband use in rural areas. They are better suited at present than cable or DSL for providing high speed Internet access in areas where population density is low. Even at this early stage of wireless deployment, rural households are slightly more likely than urban households to have satellite or MMDS.

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Tags: cable modem, DSL. T1, broad band, high speed internet access. broadband, wireless