Broadband subscriptions lag most in rural South

Rural broadband subscription increased in Western states "at a rapid clip" between 2008 and 2010, but lagged behind in the South during the same period, according to government data, John Dunbar and Jacob Fenton report for the Tucson Sentinel. Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee "have abysmal subscription rates," while Hawaii has the highest rate, followed by "relatively wealthy" Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. An interactive map showing percentage of broadband subscriptions by county can be accessed here.

Dunbar and Fenton report people without broadband access are more likely to be lower-income rural residents, and that they are falling "further and further behind, widening the 'digital divide' between rich and poor." Forty percent of all households in the U.S. didn't have broadband access in 2010, the latest year for which data are available. Also in the bottom six states are West Virginia and Oklahoma, and all the least-connected states have household median incomes of $45,000 or less. Eight of the 10 least-connected states are in the South. (Read more)