Broadband Spreads in American Rural Areas
While
broadband penetration is much higher in the metropolitan and
micropolitan areas, it has experienced the significant gains in rural
areas during the past two years. The findings come from a comScore study
on broadband growth in rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan areas in
the United States.
“Across
the country we have witnessed growth in broadband adoption driven by
greater price competition and increased consumer demand, as
bandwidth-intense activities like video streaming and peer-to-peer
sharing continue to grow,” said Brian Jurutka, vice president of
telecommunications at comScore. “With low-speed DSL priced at about the
same level as dial-up in many areas, there is little incentive for
households to remain on dial-up.”
Rural
markets (defined as having a population less than 10,000) in the U.S.
experienced a 16-percentage point increase in broadband penetration from
Q2 2007 to Q2 2009, making it the fastest growing geographic market
segment in the nation.
Comparatively, micropolitan areas (population between 10,000-50,000)
grew 14 percentage points during the same period, while metropolitan
areas (population 50,000+) grew 11 percentage points.
Even
though rural markets have experienced significant growth, their
broadband penetration of 75% remains well below the national average of
89%. Lower broadband penetration in rural areas is compounded by lower
Internet usage overall, the study says.
According to a 2007 analysis by U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic
Research Service, 63% of all rural households had at least one member
access the Internet, compared with 73% of urban households.
Broadband penetration, according to comScore, was a topic highlighted in
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) signed by President
Obama earlier this year.
The
Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to the Commerce
Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service
(RUS) to accelerate broadband deployment in areas of the country that
have been without the high-speed infrastructure, says comScore.
Starting this month, it says, broadband deployment workshops
are being held in Washington D.C.; the national broadband plan is due to
Congress in February 2010.
While
large broadband providers such as AT&T and Comcast have a presence in
rural areas, smaller and more localized providers such as Cincinnati
Bell, Insight, PenTeleData, Mediacom, and Bresnan Communications are
proving tough competition in the battle for market share, says comScore.
Bookmark this on Delicious
Seed
Newsvine
Your
Comments:
