Study shows major rural-urban digital gap persists as DSL remains the most accessible internet service in rural U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

Gray areas on the map are Census blocks with no broadband providers. (Purdue University map; click to enlarge it)

Almost 70 percent of the households with no access to high-speed broadband service are in rural areas, according to a new report by the Purdue Center for Regional Development, Roberto Gallardo reports for The Daily Yonder. Gallardo is the co-author of the report and the assistant director at the Purdue Center.

That's about 4.8 million people in 2.2 million housing units who don't have internet with speeds of at least 25 megabits per second for download and 3Mbsp upload, according to data submitted by internet service providers. It has been difficult to assess the availability of rural broadband availability, since the Federal Communications Commission's maps rely on self-reported data from internet providers who have incentives to exaggerate their coverage areas. Gallardo acknowledges the data's limitations, but says the dataset is still a valuable tool when interpreted carefully.

"A sizeable digital divide persists between urban and rural: consider that the share of rural housing units with no access to 25/3 was 20 times larger than the share of urban housing units (26.9 versus 1.4 percent)," Gallardo reports. "When it comes to symmetrical 25/25 speeds, the share of rural housing units with no access more than doubles from 26.9 to 64.7 percent." Access to internet with higher upload speeds is important since many businesses and homes create content instead of just consuming it. But advertised internet speeds were lower overall in rural areas than in urban areas, regardless of provider type.

In rural areas, the most commonly available broadband is Digital Subscriber Line, which goes through phone lines. But the median download/upload speed for a sample of more than 9 million DSL users was only 15/1, which fails to meet the FCC's definition of broadband, Gallardo reports.

Part of the problem is that big telecoms companies won contracts to build out rural broadband, then saved money by using the slower, cheaper DSL instead of cable or fiber optic networks. DSL once met the minimum download speed of 10Mbps required by the Connect America Fund, but after major pressure, the FCC increased the definition of broadband to 25/3.

Smaller providers cover a larger share of rural America than the top six telecoms companies, according to the report. So, it recommends federal incentives and state broadband programs to help these smaller providers to expand or upgrade infrastructure, Gallardo reports.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/34OFzN3 Study shows major rural-urban digital gap persists as DSL remains the most accessible internet service in rural U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

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