Rural Broadband Remains Spotty
› › › Broadband
By Enid Burns | May 8, 2006
Several factors, including geography and population density, account for
the 71 percent of American households that either dial-up or don't
access the Web from home. A telecommunications report to congressional
committees from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) details
barriers to high-speed Internet adoption.
Twenty-eight percent of American households subscribed to broadband
service in 2005, about 30 million homes. Of the remaining 71 percent of
households, 30 percent subscribe to dial-up Internet service, and 41
percent have no home access. Among broadband subscribers, distribution
between cable modem and DSL was almost evenly split. DSL is less likely
to serve rural residents; service is only available within a three-mile
radius of a central office.
Certain household factors make residents more or less likely to
subscribe to broadband services. Households with high incomes are 39
percent more likely to subscribe to broadband than lower-income
households. College-educated heads of households are 12 percent more
likely to adopt broadband than households headed by someone without a
college degree.
While price remains a barrier to adoption, the cost of broadband
services has declined over time. Tax is a barrier to subscribing when it
equals 10 percent, however when tax amounts to only 5 percent of the
rate it doesn't affect subscription rates among rural residents and
lower-income households.
Broadband providers are available for all but 1 percent of the country's
population. Ninety-nine percent of Americans live in 95 percent of the
Zip Codes that have at least one ISP offering broadband access. While it
appears companies continue to build out infrastructure for broadband
access, geography and population density deter providers from further
deployment.
Federal programs like the Universal Service Fund (USF) and the
Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have increased
the uptake of broadband service in rural areas.
Due to rugged terrain, it's more expensive to deploy land-based
broadband in rural areas. The same areas are less populated and return
smaller revenues. Broadband providers are more likely to enter a
particular market if there's no existing competition, though the land
grab appears to be over. By contrast, incumbent telecom and cable
providers are likely to roll out or enhance services in markets with new
competition.
The GAO conducts data collection using Form 477, a government-mandated
survey of telecommunications competition and deployment of broadband
services. At a Zip Code level, the FCC collects data based on where
subscribers are served, not where providers have deployed broadband
infrastructure for the report.
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3604581
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