Internet
Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults had high-speed Internet in April, gaining 15 percent from a year earlier because of increased awareness of the Web and its social benefits, a Pew Research Center poll showed. Adoption climbed even as prices rose, contradicting claims by some consumer groups that high rates and lack of access are holding back Internet use.
“People are beginning to understand that having a broadband connection is important to reach out in modern society,” said John Horrigan, an associate director at Washington-based Pew. “If you lost your job for instance, you probably know that some of the resources to find or apply for jobs are mostly online.”
The Federal Communication Commission is seeking input as it writes a plan for expanding Web access, a requirement of Obamas $787 billion economic stimulus package. Service providers Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. argue that online literacy and education are more effective methods in getting people to subscribe to the Internet than network expansion.
“Its indisputable that we can get more people online by tackling the adoption issue,” Comcasts Executive Vice President David Cohen said in an interview. Philadelphia-based Comcast is the largest U.S. cable provider.
Social Benefits
Of those who arent using the Internet, less than 10 percent do so because they cant access it, Cohen said. The rest, about 30 percent of people, have chosen not to join.
“Going after those 30 percent, who have access but arent utilizing it for whichever reasons, should be our first priority,” he said.
Verizon, which is spending $23 billion through 2010 to extend its FiOS high-speed Web service, also says the government should focus on households who have Internet access available yet dont use it.
Reasons for not subscribing include unease using computers and not perceiving the relevance of the services, New York-based Verizon, the second-largest U.S. phone company, said in comments filed to the FCC on June 8.
More than half of those who got high-speed access cited the social and community benefits as a reason, the Pew study found. More than twice as many respondents said they had cut back or canceled a mobile-phone plan or cable-TV service than had done so on Internet services.
Too Expensive?
The Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America argue that Internet adoption depends on affordability and access. The groups told the FCC that high-speed Internet is “too expensive for many people” and the FCCs plan should boost investments in networks, according to a June 8 press release.
Pew interviewed 2,253 Americans with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Some 1,687 respondents in the sample were Internet users and the margin of error in that group is plus or minus 3 percentage points, Pew said.