Broadband Studies Bear Out Common Sense [Head for the Hills]
Two studies set out today more or less confirm what conventional wisdom would tell you: broadband growth is quickest in rural areas, and rural areas with broadband access are likely to experience more job growth.
The first study, on where broadband is growing quickest comes from Comscore, as reported by WebProNews’ Mike Sachoff:
Rural markets (defined as having a population less than 10,000) in the U.S. saw a 16-percentage point increase in broadband penetration from Q2 2007 to Q2 2009, making it the fastest growing geographic market segment in the nation. In comparison micropolitan areas (population between 10,000-50,000) grew 14 percentage points during the same time, while metropolitan areas (population 50,000+) grew 11 percentage points.
The fastest growing local markets in broadband adoption were all smaller, ranking at or below #50 in terms of size. Ft. Myers-Naples was the fastest growing market with a 12-percentage point increase in broadband penetration from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009. Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI., Louisville, KY. And Evansville, IN. all saw 11 percentage point increases during the same period.
It’s a situation that makes perfect sense. Urban markets like New York City have reached nearly 96% broadband penetration, according to comScore’s Brian Jurutka.
In a related study by the USDA showed that “rural counties in the United States that embraced broadband adoption at the start of this decade enjoy access to more jobs than those that did not,” according to Ars Technica.
It makes sense, but the USDA sees trouble ahead not with their conclusions, but the propagation of broadband in rural areas.
"Wage and salary jobs, as well as number of proprietors, grew faster in counties with early broadband Internet access," the survey concludes. "Nonfarm earnings showed greater growth corresponding to broadband availability." But large chunks of rural America still have a ways to go. Only 41 percent of rural households had broadband access in 2008, the USDA says, as opposed to 55 percent nationally. And adoption rates still lag behind cities, with a "marked difference" between urban and rural use. Only 70 percent of rural households with access to broadband embraced it in 2007, the report says, as opposed to 84 percent of city dwellers.
I’m guessing that their analysis and conclusions were reached before comScore released their data today.
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