Rural America is closing the gap in broadband usage. Two years ago, only nine percent of rural homes had high-speed Internet, compared to 22 percent of urban and suburban America. At the end of 2005, broadband Internet had made its way into 24 percent of rural homes, compared to 39 percent closer to the city.
By contrast, nearly a third (29 percent) of rural homes are still using dial-up, compared to 21 percent of non-rural homes, according Pew Internet & American Life. The factors contributing to slower adoption of broadband are thought to be the expense of wiring rural areas and demographic factors that seem to coincide with broadband usages. Higher concentrations of older, less educated, and lower income households is thought to be key in the adoption rate. But lack of availability, or perceived lack, of availability also seem to be driving forces. Only 15 percent of non-rural Internet users said broadband was unavailable compared to 27 percent of rural users. But more telling is that 35 percent in rural areas didn't know one way or the other. Other telling instances are what people are doing online. Only 21 percent of those in rural areas said they'd read a blog, compared to 28 percent of others. "Although no one knows if there is any geography to blogging, a vague notion that young urban hipsters' are most tuned in to the blogosphere might be behind blog-reading being less popular in rural areas," writes Pew Associate Director John Horrigan. A more grass roots (and informal) survey may reveal that Virgil at the local garage and Jamie at the nearby horse farm not only have little need for blogs, but there's a good chance they've never heard even heard the word. This is even true in more urban areas like London, where a recent here.") Drag this to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") Yahoo My Web
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