Americans are connecting to the Internet in record numbers, becoming dependent on this technology for global communication, information, and commerce. While Internet users continue to expand at unprecedented rates, there is a discrepancy among those users: urban vs. rural.
According Pew Internet & American Life Project reports, rural usage of the Internet is nearly 10% behind that of urban usage (2004), and 24% of adults in rural America are online at home versus 39% of urban adults (2006), a phenomena which has come to be known as the digital divide. This divide goes beyond simple geography, it can also depend on race and economic status, resulting in unequal access for rural areas, particularly Native American communities. In short, urban users typically have access to the Internet in their homes, their schools and in community facilities, while their rural cousins often find that clean air and wide open spaces translates into being left behind in this technological age.
However, it is evident strides are being made to help rural Americans utilize the Internet. Recent data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that, of rural Americans with Internet access, 50% (2010) have high-speed (broadband) connections in their homes, compared with 46% in 2009.
Sources
2004, Rural Americans’ Internet Use Has Grown, but They Continue to Lag Behind Others;
2006, Rural Broadband Internet Use;
2010, Home Broadband 2010
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Americans Living With Disability and Their Technology Profile
Author(s): Susannah Fox
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Summarizes results of a survey on the use of the Internet by adults with a disability.
Date: 01 / 2011
Beyond Bingo - Proving the Stereotypes Wrong: How Technology Can Better Seniors’ Lives
Author(s): Adam Bischoff
Sponsoring organization: HealthShare Montana
Focus group gathers information from seniors on their relationship with technology with the premise that technology, including computers and the Internet, may have the potential to greatly benefit their health.
Date: 07 / 2010
Bringing Broadband to Rural America: Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy
Author(s): Michael J. Copps
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Describes a comprehensive rural broadband strategy to Congress that includes recommendations for improving interagency coordination of broadband policies and initiatives for assessing broadband needs in rural areas, and for specific federal agency programs and resources to overcome the obstacles that currently impede rural broadband deployment.
Date: 05 / 2009
Bringing Broadband to Rural America: Update to Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Confirms the need to continue the Administration's comprehensive investments and policy framework to ensure that rural communities and tribal nations receive the same access to the economic, educational, health care and public safety opportunities and services that broadband delivers in urbanized communities.
Date: 06 / 2011
Broadband Adoption and Use in America
Author(s): John B. Horrigan
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Part of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative (OBI) Working Paper Series presents analysis and research by broadband team staff
members. This paper presents data on various aspects of broadband access and Internet users by rural and non-rural areas.
Date: 02 / 2010
Broadband Connection Highs and Lows Across Rural America
Author(s): Tim Murphy, Bill Bishop
Uses data from the 2007 Census of Agriculture to display the presence and use of high speed Internet access on America's farms.
Date: 02 / 2009
Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs
Author(s): Lennard G. Kruger, Angele A. Gilroy
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
Covers broadband Internet access issues in rural and underserved areas. Also covers the federal assistance programs as well as state and local broadband activities.
Date: 06 / 2008
Broadband Internet Service Helping Create a Rural Digital Economy
Author(s): Peter Stenberg, Mitch Morehart, John Cromartie
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses the benefits of broadband high speed Internet service in rural communities in relation to employment and economic growth.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 7 Issue 3
Date: 09 / 2009
Broadband Internet's Value for Rural America
Author(s): Peter Stenberg, Mitch Morehart, Stephen Vogel, John Cromartie, Vince Breneman, Dennis Brown
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Analyzes (1) rural broadband use by consumers, the community-at-large, and businesses; (2) rural broadband availability; and (3) broadband's social and economic effects on rural areas.
Date: 08 / 2009
Closing the Rural Broadband Gap
Author(s): Robert LaRose, Jennifer L. Gregg, Sharon Strover, Joseph Straubhaar, Nobuya Inagaki
Identifies the impacts of accessible rural broadband networks on the adoption and use of broadband services and on community development. Covers rural-urban differences, social uses of the Internet, available grants, and Internet use for education.
Date: 11 / 2008
Comments of the Benton Foundation Center for Rural Strategies, the Rural Policy Research Institute, and the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute (TIPI) at the University of Texas at Austin on the National Broadband Plan
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Comments on the modification of the existing Universal Service Fund (USF) programs to provide access to all Americans, particularly rural populations.
Date: 06 / 2009
Comments of the Rural Broadband Policy Group
Sponsoring organization: Rural Broadband Policy Group
Several rural and technology interest groups compiled responses to the request for comments in regards to updating the 2009 Rural Broadband Report. They offer four recommendations: focus on local solutions, establish local job creation and social capital formation benchmarks, collect accurate data, and reclassify Internet service as a Title II service, and implement strong Net Neutrality rules.
Date: 03 / 2011
Comments of the Rural Policy Research Institute to US Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Broadband Initiatives
Author(s): Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Describes issues associated with high-speed Internet access in rural America and recommends principles for rural broadband policy.
Date: 04 / 2009
Comments on the National Broadband Plan, Rural Internet and Broadband Policy Group
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Comments and recommendations on the National Broadband Plan from the Rural Internet and Broadband Policy Group - organizations dedicated to rural broadband and rural development.
Date: 06 / 2009
Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Includes the executive summary and full text of the National Broadband Plan, which began taking form in April 2009 and was finalized in March 2010. The plan makes recommendations to the FCC, the Executive Branch, Congress and state and local governments to ensure all consumers and industries in rural and urban America have access to affordable broadband computer networks.
Connecting Rural America
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Summarizes the awards made in the first round of Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) funding that will help communities bring broadband service to rural areas.
Date: 06 / 2010
Creating EHR Networks in the Safety Net
Sponsoring organization: California HealthCare Foundation
Discusses how a network approach to implementing EHR systems can ensure clinics and health centers to remain in the forefront of delivering quality care to the safety net.
Date: 03 / 2008
Digital Nation: 21st Century America's Progress Toward Universal Broadband Internet Access
Sponsoring organization: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Reports on a survey of over 50,000 households and illustrates that while virtually all demographic groups have increased their adoption of broadband services, demographic disparities among groups have persisted over time. Persons with low incomes, seniors, minorities, the less-educated, non-family households, the non-employed, and persons in rural areas tend to lag behind other groups in home broadband use.
Date: 02 / 2010
Disability and the Digital Divide: Comparing Surveys with Disability Data
Sponsoring organization: Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities
Discusses how surveys consistently report that people with disabilities have only half the rate of Internet access of people without a disability. Despite regular increases over time, people with disabilities have not caught up, and still face a significant digital divide.
Date: 06 / 2006
Expanding Telecommunications Access in Indian Country
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Provides an overview of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the types of available communications technology, and FCC programs that are aimed at promoting
telecommunications services in Indian Country.
Date: 07 / 2006
FCC Narrowbanding Mandate: What You Need to Know to Assure Radio Communications in 2013
Briefly describes the implications of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Narrowbanding Mandate which replaces radio frequencies with digital communications.
FCC's Universal Service Program for Rural Health Care Providers
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
Describes the telecommunications support available to rural health care providers through the Universal Service program, benefits of the program, how it works and how it is funded.
Date: 07 / 2008
FCC’s National Broadband Plan Disadvantages Rural Consumers, Creates a New Urban/Rural Digital Divide, and Harms Future Rural Economic Development
This letter to Congress describes how the new National Broadband Plan would create a new broadband urban/rural digital divide because many rural communities neither have the populations nor independent financial means to support high speed Internet access.
Date: 05 / 2010
FCC’s Performance Management Weaknesses Could Jeopardize Proposed Reforms of the Rural Health Care Program
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is falling short on managing the telecommunication needs of rural healthcare providers.
Date: 11 / 2010
Generations 2010
Author(s): Kathryn Zickuhr
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Presents data on the demographic breakdown of Internet users and what they do online, such as look for health information.
Date: 12 / 2010
Health Care Unplugged: The Evolving Role of Wireless Technology
Author(s): Richard Adler
Sponsoring organization: California HealthCare Foundation
Provides an overview of the global wireless revolution. Describes wireless health care applications that are currently available or under development. Considers the impact of these advances, future developments and their implications for health care.
Date: 11 / 2007
Health Literacy Online: A Guide to Writing and Designing Easy-to-Use Health Web Sites
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Offers a research-based how-to guide for creating health Web sites and Web content for the millions of Americans with limited literacy skills and limited experience using the Web. The strategies in this guide complement accepted principles of good Web design and thus have the potential to improve the online experience for all users, regardless of literacy skills.
Date: 2010
Health, United States, 2009 with Special Feature on Medical Technology
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
Presents national trends in health statistics. Each report includes an executive summary, highlights, a chartbook, trend tables, extensive appendixes, and an index. Breaks down much of the data according to geographic region and metropolitan status. Includes data on this year's special feature on medical technology.
Date: 2009
Home Broadband 2010
Author(s): Aaron Smith
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans' use of the Internet. Summarizes home broadband adoption trends by demographic and geographic designations.
Date: 08 / 2010
iDelta: Information Technology in the Delta
Author(s): Sandra Johnson, Scott Doron, Linda Hoke, Charity Pennock
Sponsoring organization: Delta Regional Authority
Identifies opportunities and current activities in the Delta Regional Authority (240 counties and parishes in parts of eight southern states) that utilize high-speed Internet access. Includes a literature review and highlights current utilization of broadband.
Date: 02 / 2007
Lessons & Concepts for Advancing Community Wind
Author(s): Morgan Winters, Ryan Stockwell, Dan Thiede
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: Rural Community Health
Describes the concept and structure of "community wind" as well as the process involved in starting a wind energy program. Case studies explored include those in rural Minnesota and South Dakota.
Date: 12 / 2009
Lower Cost Domestic Sourcing: A Niche Opportunity for the US
Synthesizes opinions and provides a view of how the US can become a more cost-effective global sourcing destination by encouraging and nurturing job creation in smaller American communities, thereby enabling more cost effective information technology services delivery in the US.
Date: 07 / 2007
National Report on the Use of Telecommunications to Deliver VR Services
Author(s): Catherine Ipsen
Sponsoring organization: Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities
Reports on a survey of vocational rehabilitation counselors using telecommunications when serving both rural and urban vocational rehabilitation consumers.
Date: 12 / 2010
Power of Technological Innovation in Rural America
Author(s): Jason Henderson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Explores how technological adoption can help invigorate rural economies by creating new products, improving production processes, and opening up new markets.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Volume 2 Issue 4
Date: 2007
President's Budget FY 2011: What's in it for Rural America?
Author(s): Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Pulls information from the FY 2011 budget proposals sent by the President to Congress on February 1, 2010 that focuses on rural America. Areas of rural interest included in the budget are: economic growth and job creation, broadband access, renewable energy, community development, healthful food options, clean water, and conservation of natural resources.
Date: 2011
RCA's Economic Study: Economic Impact of Wireless Broadband in Rural America
Author(s): Raul L. Katz, Javier Avila, Giacomo Meille
Sponsoring organization: Rural Cellular Association
Access the executive summary and full report of a study that estimates the economic impact that implementation of rural wireless broadband would have on rural America.
Date: 2011
Renewable Power Opportunities for Rural Communities
Author(s): Samuel V. Brown, David G. Nderitu, Paul V. Preckel, Douglas J. Gotham, Benjamin W. Allen
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Summary and guide to assist rural utilities investing in a renewable electricity generation project and for policymakers considering how to encourage such investments.
Date: 04 / 2011
Rural Broadband At A Glance, 2009 Edition
Author(s): Peter Stenberg, Sarah Low
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Reports on broadband access in rural America with comparisons to urban counterparts.
Date: 02 / 2009
Rural Broadband: A RUPRI Policy Brief
Author(s): Brian Dabson, Jennifer Keller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Provides analysis of rural broadband accessibility, usage, technology development, and government action. Recommends principles which should underlay future rural broadband policy.
Date: 12 / 2008
Rural Development and the Recovery Act: Working For Rural Communities
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Reports on how the USDA Rural Development distribution of loan and grant funds provided to the agency through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has helped the Nation's rural residents.
Date: 10 / 2010
Scholar's Roundtable: The Effects of Expanding Broadband to Rural Areas
Author(s): Sharon Strover, Nick Muntean
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Strategies
Discusses a forum that occurred in December and January of 2009-2010, which discussed the differences broadband will have on rural economies.
Date: 04 / 2011
Small Business Impact of Telecommunications Policy Restriction in Rural States
Author(s): Lori Dickes, Dave Lamie
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Discusses the digital divide still found across geographies, regions, racial groups, age groups and income classifications.
Journal citation: Rural Connections
Date: 11 / 2011
Small Community Gets Big Broadband
Author(s): Monica Babine
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Discusses the importance of broadband Internet service to promote economic development and to keep the younger adult population within the community.
Journal citation: Rural Connections
Date: 09 / 2011
Social Life of Health Information
Author(s): Susannah Fox
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Presents data on how adults in rural and urban areas now use the Internet (social networks, blogs, podcasts, and forums) for health information.
Date: 06 / 2009
Strength of Internet Ties
Author(s): Jeffrey Boase, John B. Horrigan, Barry Wellman, Lee Rainie
Sponsoring organization: Pew Internet and American Life Project
Highlights how the Internet, particularly email, supplements the communication people have with others in their network who are geographically dispersed.
Date: 01 / 2006
Tackling the Rising Cost of Electricity: Options for Rural America
Author(s): Amy Glasmeier
Sponsoring organization: Rural Sociological Society
Offers policy and community action options that can help rural areas handle rising energy costs. Options presented include, but are not limited to: cash rebates, implementing new technology, and adopting stricter building codes.
Journal citation: Rural Realities Volume 3 Issue 1
Date: 2009
Telecommunications: Challenges to Assessing and Improving Telecommunications for Native Americans on Tribal Lands
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Discusses the status of telecommunications access for Native Americans living on tribal lands, federal programs available for improving telecommunications, barriers to improvements, and how some tribes are addressing these barriers.
Date: 03 / 2006
USDA Rural Development 2010 Progress Report
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Reports on the investments - including funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) - made by USDA Rural Development intended to have a lasting, sustainable impact on rural American by supporting job creation, housing programs, broadband implementation, public utilities and economic activity.
Date: 03 / 2011
USDA Rural Development: Bringing Broadband to Rural America
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Identifies and describes USDA Rural Development's commitment in improving the quality of life for rural Americans through broadband connectivity.
Date: 06 / 2007
Why Broadband Needs to Reach Rural America
Author(s): Sharon Strover, Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Describes why broadband access is important to rural communities and suggests that training programs attribute to its successful implementation.
Date: 02 / 2009
Journals
RCA News
E-newsletter delivered via e-mail from the Rural Cellular Association. Provides information on various aspects of telecommunications in rural America.
Organizations
Benton Foundation
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to build a public interest vision for the digital age and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Offers daily summaries of articles concerning the telecommunications landscape.
Foundation for Rural Service
Nonprofit/Foundation
Educates the public on the benefits of a nationwide telecommunications network, and promotes rural connectivity as an essential link in this network.
Internet2
National organization
Networking consortium of universities, industry, and government that promotes and provides network capabilities and partnership opportunities to facilitate the development, deployment and use of new Internet technologies.
National Broadband Resource Center (NBRC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to educate and connect community-based, non-profit organizations with resources and to serve as a facilitator of innovative, relevant broadband applications.
Pew Internet and American Life Project
Nonprofit/Foundation
Explores the impact of the Internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. Offers information on the Internet's growth and societal impact.
Rural Broadband Policy Group
National organization
National coalition of rural broadband advocates from the National Rural Assembly that articulate broadband and internet policies for rural America.
Rural Cellular Association (RCA)
National organization
Represents rural wireless telecommunications providers throughout the United States. Speaks on issues that concern its members and keeps them informed through sharing of information, knowledge, and expertise.
Rural Mobile and Broadband Alliance (RuMBA)
National organization
An initiative and membership network that seeks to ensure rural communities are offered the same affordable wireless broadband services available to urban and suburban areas, and equal access to wireless E-911 Phase II (location-based) coverage.
Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC)
National organization
Dedicated to assuring that rural areas in the United States have access to the information and support they need to obtain and use advanced telecommunications services and technology for social and economic development.
Technology Innovation Program (TIP)
Federal government
Works to help U.S. businesses, nonprofit research entities, and higher education institutions to support, promote, and accelerate innovation through research.
TechSoup
National organization
Works towards ensuring all nonprofits, nongovernmental organizations, and community-based organizations have the latest professional hardware, software, and services they need to operate. Offers access to free products, information, resources, and support for such entities.
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Provides states and U.S. territories with access to affordable telecommunications services through the Universal Service Fund. Administers four programs: the High Cost Program, the Low Income Program, the Rural Health Care Program, and the Schools and Libraries Program.
USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
Federal government
Provides programs to finance rural America's telecommunications infrastructure.
Terms & Acronyms
Broadband Refers to telecommunications data transmissions in which a single wire can carry multiple channels of data.
Broadband Internet Access A high data-transmission rate internet connection. DSL and cable modem, popular consumer broadband technologies, are capable of transmitting 256 kilobits per second or more, approximately nine times the speed of a modem using a standard digital telephone line.
Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) A system that includes both inpatient orders and the electronic ordering of outpatient prescriptions often referred to as e-prescribing. The CPOE allows physicians and other caregivers to input orders directly into a computer, thereby eliminating problems with handwriting legibility and order transcription.
Dial-up An Internet service feature that allows a computer terminal to use telephone systems (telephone lines) to initiate and communicate with other computers.
Digital Divide The term describes patterns of unequal access to information technology, primarily used with computers and the Internet. The gap exists between individuals who have access to use information technology and those who do not. Often the term is used to describe the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not. The digital divide is often used to refer to whole communities, such as urban or rural, but it is also used to identify residents within a community.
Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL) A method for moving data over regular phone lines. A DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber's premises are the same copper wires used for regular phone service.
E-Government (E-Gov) An abbreviated term to represent electronic government which uses improved Internet-based technology to make it easy for citizens and businesses to interact with the government, save taxpayer dollars, and streamline citizen-to-government communications.
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) A generic term used to describe a computer-based patient medical record that includes patient information regarding diagnoses, test/procedure results and other relevant medical information such as medical appointments and correspondence.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) An independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.
Health Information Technology (HIT) A significant infrastructure that involves the application of computer technology to generate, validate, secure and integrate healthcare data so it can be effectively utilized to support the decision-making activities of clinical and administrative professionals. HIT can provide immediate access to patient information, care guidelines for clinicians, or health services that transcend geographic distances.
High Speed Internet Descriptive of a network or terminal that uses electromagnetic waves (including rf, infrared, laser, visible light - and acoustic energy) rather than wire conductors for telecommunications, hence wireless.
Internet A worldwide interconnection of individual networks with an agreement on how to talk to each other, and operated by government, industry, academia, and private parties.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) A company or organization that provides connections to the Internet to companies or individuals via dial-up, ISDN, T1, or other connection.
Internet2 A non-profit broadband networking consortium comprising of 206 universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet.
Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System (MMDS) A wireless broadband technology for Internet Access. MMDS channels come in six MHz chunks and run on frequencies licensed by the FCC. MMDS is a line-of-sight service, and will not work well in mountainous regions, but it will work in rural areas where copper lines are not available. Also known as Multi-channel Microwave Distribution System and wireless cable.
Non Line-of-sight (NLOS) Refers to the transmission of radio wave signals not requiring a line-or-sight technology. Describes a partially obstructed path between the location of the signal transmitter and the location of the signal receiver. Obstacles that can cause an obstruction in the line of sight include trees, buildings, mountains, hills and other natural or manmade structures or objects.
Personal Health Record (PHR) A collection of important information about a person's health or the health of someone a person is caring for, such as a parent or child. The PHR is actively maintained and updated by both the healthcare provider, the care giver, and the person for whom it belongs.
Wi-Fi A set of product compatibility standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. Intended to be used for mobile devices and LANs, but is now often used for Internet access.
Wireless Access Computer terminal access to the Internet or a network which uses wireless technology.
|
