KMB Video Journal - From the Publisher

Broadband Information :

55% of adult Americans have home broadband connections

There was no growth in broadband adoption among poorer families or blacks, while growth was strong among rural residents, older Americans, and those in households earning $20,000 to $40,000

Washington, DC – Some 55% of all adult Americans now have a high-speed internet connection at home, according to a May 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The percentage of Americans with broadband at home has grown from 47% in early 2007 and 42% in early 2005. Among individuals who use the internet at home, 79% have a high-speed connection while 15% use dialup.

The 17% growth rate from 2007 to 2008 represents is comparable to the 12% growth rate
recorded in the 2006 to 2007 timeframe. However, several groups exhibited little or no growth in
broadband adoption at home from 2007 to 2008:

Among adults who live in households whose annual incomes are less than $20,000
annually, home broadband adoption stood at 25% in early 2008, compared with 28%
in 2007.
Among African Americans, home broadband adoption stood at 43% in May 2008
compared with 40% in early 2007.

“The flat growth in home high-speed adoption for low-income Americans suggests that
tightening household budgets may be affecting people’s choice of connection speed at home,”
said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of Research at the Pew Internet & American Life
project and author of the report. “Broadband is more costly on a monthly basis than dial-up, and
some lower income Americans may be unwilling to take on another expense.” Nonetheless, several groups exhibited strong growth in home broadband adoption from 2007 to
2008, namely:

Older Americans: Those age 50 and over experienced a 26% growth rate in home
broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008. Half of Americans between the ages of 50
and 64 have broadband at home. Some 19% of those 65 and older had home
broadband access as of April 2008.
Lower-middle income Americans: Those with household incomes between
$20,000 and $40,000 annually saw broadband penetration grow by 24% from 2007
to 2008. Some 45% of those in that income range reported having broadband at
home in April 2008.
Rural Americans: 38% of those living in rural American now have broadband at
home, compared with 31% who said this in 2007, or a growth rate of 23% from 2007
to 2008.

While broadband adoption for low-income Americans has been flat, many broadband users show a willingness to pay more for broadband in order to get faster speeds. Some 29% of home
broadband users say they subscribe to a more costly premium broadband service in order to have a faster home high-speed experience. A few even have fiber optic connections at home – 2% of broadband users say they have fiber at home. The Pew Internet study also explores the reasons why many Americans – either dial-up users or non-internet users – do not have high-speed internet connections at home. Among the 10% of Americans (or 15% of home internet users) with dial-up at home:

35% of dial-up users say that the price of broadband service would have to fall.
19% of dial-up users said nothing would convince them to get broadband.
14% of dial-up users – and 24% of dial-up users in rural America – say that broadband service would have to become available where they.

Overall, 62% of dial-up users say they are not interested in switching from dial-up to broadband.
Americans who are not online – 27% of adults who do not use the internet – are likely to be older (their median age is 61) and have low incomes. When non-internet users are asked why they don’t use the internet, here is what they say:

33% of non-users say they are not interested.
12% say they don’t have access.
9% say it is too difficult or frustrating.
7% say it is too expensive.
7% say it is a waste of time.

“Economic factors play a large role in why some people don’t have broadband, but about one in
ten non-broadband users say that service isn’t available where they live,” said Horrigan. “Beyond price and availability, some non-broadband users simply don’t see the need for having a highspeed connection at home.” Other key findings from the survey are:

Price of service:
Broadband users report an average monthly bill of $34.50 for highspeed service, 4% lower than the $36 reported by broadband users in December 2005.
Dial-up users report a montly bill of $19.70 for service, an increase of 9% over the $18 figure reported in December 2005.

Always connected users: Some 34% of online users say they have gone online away from home or work using a WiFi connection on their laptop: Among this group:

64% say they use free WiFi services when they do this.
58% use WiFi in public places such as an airport or coffee shop.

The Pew Internet Project’s report on broadband adoption is based on the Project’s April-May
2008 survey of 2,251 adults, 1,153 of whom were home broadband users. The Pew Internet
Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Internet
explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools,
health care and civic/political life. The Project is nonpartisan and takes no position on policy
issues.

Contact: John B. Horrigan, 202-419-4500

Download this report in pdf

Issue 1
Illinois Broadband Technology News & Updates
July 2, 2008

1. Illinois Technology Partnership (ITP) July 16 kick-off

Download IL Tech Petterinos Invite.pdf
For more information, contact
Aviva F. Gibbs, Executive Director
Illinois Technology Partnership
150 N. Wacker Drive Suite 960
Chicago, IL 60606
312-768-4760
aviva@iltechpartner.org

2. Web development job (July 7 Deadline!)
EnergyNet is looking for a subcontractor to update its web site. Attached is a short RFP.
Download RFP Web Site.pdf
For more information, contact
Carol Timms - caroltimms@gmail.com

3. Videos to watch

Watch broadband technology events you couldn't attend in person at http://illinoisbroadbanddeployment.pbwiki.com/Videos
The latest include:

Broadband national strategy panel discussion at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington DC (June 21, 2008).

Launch of InternetforEveryone.org at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City (June 24, 2008).

4. Reports to read

Check out our growing library of broadband policy reports at http://illinoisbroadbanddeployment.pbwiki.com/REPORTS
The latest include:

Columbia University Institute for Learning Technologies: XO Pilot Evaluation (June)

Internet for Everyone: One Nation Online (June)

ENC & Baller-Herbst: Capturing the Promise of Broadband for NC & America (June)

SETDA: High-Speed Broadband Access for all Kids (June)

Communication Workers of America: A Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States (June)

Fiber to the Home Council: Muni FTTH Deployments-Next Generation BB as a Muni Utility (June)

Center for Rural Pennsylvania: Broadband Internet Use in Rural Pennsylvania (May)

National Governor's Association: State efforts to expand broadband (May)

5. Broadband news feed

A compendium of broadband-technology news and views:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/08562201481139216189/state/com.google/broadcast
Add it to your RSS feed!

6. Federal telehealth law update

On June 25 the U.S. House of Representatives passed Medicare legislation to expand telehealth originating sites for Medicare reimbursement by a bipartisan vote of 355-59. The bill, H.R. 6331, adds skilled nursing facilities, hospital-based renal dialysis centers, and community mental health centers to the list of originating sites. The legislation faces the threat of a presidential veto due to other provisions included in it, (e.g., cuts to Medicare Advantage plans), but the margin by which it passed the House yesterday would be sufficient to override a veto. To view a copy of the House-passed bill, please visit www.telehealthleadership.org

Stay tuned to www.telehealthleadership.org for updates on this and other telehealth-related legislation.

For more information, contact
Deborah E. Seale, Executive Director
SIU Telehealth Networks & Programs
Springfield, IL 62794-9682
P: 217-545-7830 F: 217-545-7839
E: dseale@siumed.edu