Connecting all Americans needs different solutions in urban vs. rural settings
There is a persistent and well-known gap between rural and urban populations in terms of their internet usage. But when you look at sheer numbers, the number of unconnected urban/metro-area users is far larger than the number in rural areas—which has policy implications for how funds should be used to actually connect Americans who do not have home broadband service.
According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the gap between internet usage for urban and rural users has remained remarkably consistent for at least as long as NTIA has been gathering data. Since 1998, there has been a persistent 6-9% gap in internet usage between rural users and urban users, even as the overall percentage of the population using the internet has gone up. That may have narrowed a bit more in the past couple of years, but it’s still there; Census Bureau data from 2021 found that about 81 percent of rural households are plugged into broadband, compared with about 86 percent in urban areas.
“This suggests that in spite of advances in both policy and technology, the barriers to Internet adoption existing in rural communities are complex and stubborn,” NTIA says. The agency did note that among rural individuals with higher levels of education and income, there was not a significantly lower adoption rate than their urban counterpoints—but rural individuals with lower income and lower education “faced an even larger disadvantage” than people in similar situations who lived in an urban environment.
What are the different root causes of being unconnected from home broadband in rural areas vs. in urban areas? The Bipartisan Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, breaks it down this way: “In rural areas, coverage and affordability are the challenges. In urban and metro communities, digital literacy and education are the principal reasons.” The organization also says that affordability is a secondary barrier in metropolitan areas because there are more readily available programs to subsidize costs. Instead, “The key challenge with urban adoption rates for broadband is that many households choose not to have it even if it is available.”
This tracks with recent analysis of data from NTIA’s Internet Use Survey shows that a significant majority—58%—of an estimated 24 million offline households, report that their main reason for not using the internet at home is that they have no need or interest in doing so. The respondent with this point of view was likely to be around 60 years old and white, with no postsecondary education. (Another 18% said that they don’t have broadband service because it is too expensive.)
“These results suggest that multiple strategies are necessary to stimulate greater adoption of the Internet, including subsidy programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the Digital Equity Act, and other initiatives to increase digital skills, equip people with suitable devices, and ensure important online services are accessible to all,” NTIA concluded in a recent blog post about the data.
Additionally, there is a device-related component to the digital divide. Households which don’t have a home broadband connection are also less likely to have multiple connected devices and multiple types of devices—not only a smartphone, but a tablet and/or laptop with a larger screen and full-sized keyboard for ease of interaction and viewing. “Mobile devices are not simply being used more often to go online – some Americans are forgoing traditional broadband at home altogether in favor of their smartphone. A majority of adults say they subscribe to home broadband, but about one-in-four (27%) do not. And growing shares of these non-adopters cite their mobile phone as a reason for not subscribing to these services,” said Pew.
Additionally, even within metro users in the same geographic area, there are signs that wealthier areas still receive broadband service with better performance—an aspect that suggests that there are nuances to the urban digital divide that have yet to be fully uncovered. In a data project focused on assessing aspects of the urban digital divide and equity, researchers from the University of Chicago compared the service experienced by two households in different Chicago neighborhoods that were subscribed to the same service plan from an ISP. Comparing Ookla test data and network performance data that it collected via in-home devices that plug into an individual home’s network, the researchers found that during a monthlong period from July 2021 through August 2021, the wealthy household consistently saw speeds that were about 100 Mbps faster than the household located in a poorer neighborhood, as well as consistently lower latency. (Read the “tale of two gigs” here.)
“Even if we can achieve equity in availability and adoption, we will still be left to ensure that the Internet is empowering communities with equal opportunity and connectivity for all,” the project concludes.
