Broadband access is essential for the growth and competitiveness of small business and home based work at home business. So the fact that the growth of broadband access seems to be slowing is troubling. Big firms are competing for the low hanging fruit of broadband customers living in the major metro areas while many who could benefit from the service are wondering if they’ll ever get it.
Any ideas?
From the Palm Beach Post
Who’s got broadband?
Here are the percentages of Americans with a high-speed Internet connection at home:
All Americans: 47 percent
White non-Hispanics: 48
Blacks: 40
Latinos: 29
Rural residents: 31
Suburban residents: 49
Urban residents: 52
Incomes over $75,000: 76
Incomes between $50,000-$75,000: 58
Incomes between $30,000-$50,000: 46
Incomes below $30,000: 30
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
Nearly half of all Americans now have high-speed Internet service at home, but the growth rate for “broadband” service is slowing sharply and it’s still uncommon among poor and rural residents, according to a new study.About 47 percent of adult Americans surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet & American Life Project said they have high-speed Internet service at home, up from next to nothing at the start of the decade.
The study’s findings come as the Federal Communications Commission is looking into whether broadband providers – primarily cable and telephone companies – are doing enough to provide rural and poor Americans access to high-speed Internet service and all that it offers, from entertainment to educational programs.
Depending on the outcome of the FCC inquiry, regulators could set rate caps or take other steps to encourage broadband growth.
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