Thursday, August 23, 2012

Millions of rural Americans still without broadband

About 19 million Americans, 14.5 million of whom live in rural areas, do not have access to high-speed Internet, according to a new Federal Communications Commission report. That number is down from the 26 million who were without access before the FCC started the Connect America Fund to extend access across the U.S. Only about 4.5 million non-rural residents were without broadband as of July 2011.

The "ranking of states again underscored the correlation between broadband access and economic productivity," Roger Yu of USA Today reports. "Economically struggling states fared worse than more thriving areas of the country." West Virginia has the highest percentage of people without broadband at 45.9 percent. It is followed by California, Montana, South Dakota and Alaska. (Read more)

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