Broadband Communities

MAY-JUN 2012

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BROADBAND POLICY What Really Keeps People From Using Broadband? Most nonusers say broadband just isn't relevant to them – but a new survey in Louisiana suggests that expense and online threats are more significant barriers. Is this a paradigm shift? By David Moore ■ Louisiana State Broadband Grant Program and Kirby Goidel ■ Louisiana State University tain instantly and irreversibly changes his value system when he realizes he is confronting a lighthouse rather than another ship: Te captain alters course rather than standing by his earlier de- mands that the other party change course. Tose of us who work to promote I universal broadband adoption among U.S. citizens may find that we need a similar change of course. Recent reports on barriers to home broadband adoption have relied on two leading sources, the Pew Research In- stitute Home Broadband series and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (DOC) Ex- ploring the Digital Nation series. Te table at right summarizes the barriers stated by survey participants who did not subscribe to broadband services. Although the availability barrier fell significantly over the three years for which data is available, mirroring the expansion of the nation's broadband infrastructure, the remaining barriers have consistently been reported, in de- creasing order, as • Relevance – Tere is no need for, benefit from or time for having high- speed Internet connectivity at home. • Price – Te price of computers or other devices that access broadband, as well as the monthly subscription rate for broadband service, is too high for household members. n his landmark book "Te 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Stephen Covey tells how a battleship cap- Barrier Relevance Price Availability Usability Other Pew 2009 50% 19% 17% 13% 1% Pew 2010 48% 21% 6% 18% 7% • Usability – Te lack of basic com- puter skills or knowledge of how to use the Internet prevents certain households from subscribing high-speed Internet. to • Other – For example, respondents access the Internet from other loca- tions or have concerns about online threats. Because relevance has long been thought the most significant barrier, broadband enthusiasts throughout the nation have spent countless hours educat- ing audiences about the benefits of home broadband adoption: the convenience of online shopping and banking, the unprec- edented ease of communication through DOC 2010 38% 26% 4% 21% 11% DOC 2011 46% 25% 3% 14% 12% Barriers to broadband adoption in the United States, according to national surveys email and social media, and the educa- tional benefits for children and adults, to name just a few. Te goal of these pro- grams has been to persuade grandparents of the need to use broadband to see pic- tures of their grandchildren, parents of the need to use broadband for job search and skills development, and children of the need to use broadband to put them on the path toward higher education and a more promising future. THE LOUISIANA SURVEY Trough the State Broadband Data De- velopment grant program, administered by the DOC National Telecommunica- tions and Information Administration About the Authors David Moore directs the Louisiana State Broadband Grant Program and is enthusiastic about promoting broadband throughout Louisiana. For answers to any questions about this study or to share insights from broadband studies in other states, email him at David.M@la.gov. Kirby Goidel is director of the Louisiana State University Manship School's Research Facility, which includes the Public Policy Research Lab and the Media Effects Lab. He is a professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication and the Department of Political Science at LSU. 94 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | MAY/JUNE 2012

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