Study finds broadband benefits rural communities
February 23, 2009
The future outlay from federal stimulus spending of up to $7 billion to provide broadband internet services to the nation’s rural areas should boost rural education and economic opportunities, a recent study concludes.
Researchers surveyed more than 3,000 people living in rural areas of Michigan, Texas and Kentucky, tracking the adoption of high-speed internet connections between 2005 and 2008 in four communities receiving broadband internet grants from the federal Rural Utilities Service.
Michigan State University Professor Robert LaRose and colleagues found that, when offered high-speed internet, people in rural communities took advantage. "Home broadband users were more likely than others to plan to take continuing education courses or start new businesses online," LaRose reported.
LaRose said the adoption of broadband internet connections increased in three of the four communities. However, rural broadband penetration matched that of urban residents only where theinfrastructure grants were coupled with community-based efforts to promote the effective use of broadband by residents, he said.
In Kentucky, the ConnectKentucky regional economic development organization has successfully closed the gap in internet connectivity between young and old and better-educated and less-educated residents, the report found.
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