Broadband access is not broadening this year as much as last year according to Pew Internet. A slight majority of those surveyed say that the adoption aforable broadband should not be government priority.
The adoption of broadband internet access slowed dramatically over
the last year. Two-thirds of American adults (66%) now have a broadband
internet connection at home, a figure that is little changed from the
63% with a high-speed home connection at a similar point in 2009.
Most demographic groups experienced flat-to-modest broadband adoption
growth over the last year. The notable exception to this trend came
among African-Americans, who experienced 22% year-over-year broadband
adoption growth.
- In 2009 65% of whites and 46% of African-Americans were broadband users (a 19-point gap)
- In 2010 67% of whites and 56% of African-Americans are broadband users (an 11-point gap)
By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the
spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority.
Contrary to what some might suspect, non-internet users are less likely
than current users to say the government should place a high priority on
the spread of high-speed connections.
Other interesting data from the survey:
A fifth of American adults (21%) do not use the internet. Many
non-users think online content is not relevant to their lives and they
are not confident they could use computers and navigate the web on their
own.
Minority Americans and young adults are among the groups that are most attuned to
the need for a home broadband connection. African-Americans and English-speaking
Latinos are significantly more likely than whites to say that a lack of broadband access is
a "major disadvantage" when it comes to finding out about job opportunities; getting
health information; learning new things to improve or enrich one's life; using
government services; and keeping up with local community happenings.
The Pew report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on
Americans' use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on
data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research
Associates International between April 29 and May 30, 2010, among a
sample of 2,252 adults ages 18 and older, including 744 reached on a
cell phone. Interviews were conducted in English. For results based on
the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 2.4
percentage points. For results based on cell phone owners (n=1,917),
the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. In
addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties
in conducting telephone surveys may introduce some error or bias into
the findings of opinion polls.
Ericsson published a completely contradictory article recently that said the uptake and use of broadband has grown time times that used in 2009 and is expected to grow twice over each year!?