Rahul Gaitonde, Deputy Editor, BroadbandBreakfast.com
WASHINGTON, November 9, 2010 – After a year of data crunching and analysis, the Commerce Department has released a report titled “Exploring the Digital Nation Home Broadband Internet Adoption in the United States,” concluding that a digital divide still exists but is decreasing.
Yet almost one-fourth of all households did not have a single internet user. The study found that income and education have some of the most significant factors in determining if users have broadband at home. Additionally, cost remained one of the main reasons why users do not upgrade to broadband.
Taking a comparative view from 2007 to 2009. Broadband use in the home grow from 51 percent to 64 percent while non-use dropped 6 percent. The table below describes the basic demographic characterizes of broadband users. The data holds no real surprises. In relation to income, broadband usage increases as income increases, the same also holds true for education levels. This correlation between income and broadband usage
Looking at racial/ethnic data, Asians have the highest level of adoption at 77 percent followed by whites at 68 percent and blacks following behind at 49 percent.
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