AN UPDATE ON RURAL BROADBAND

Although high-speed Internet access is increasingly popular, rural areas trail the rest of the nation when it comes to broadband access. While rural regions are likely to continue trailing metro areas for some time, new technologies have emerged that may help rural America bridge this digital divide.

Bridget Abraham, research associate at the Center for the Study of Rural America examines some of the issues related to high-speed data services in rural America in October’s edition of The Main Street Economist. The Main Street is published by the Center, which is based at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Growth of Internet access across the country has been fairly even between urban and rural areas. However, growth in the use of broadband, which allows users to access Internet services at high speeds, has been far less equal. Currently, less than 5% of towns with 10,000 or fewer residents have broadband access available.

According to the author, three new technologies have emerged that may benefit rural America by offering a wireless high speed connection to the Internet:

·         Mulitport multichannel distributions systems utilizing towers similar to those used by radio and television broadcasts;

·         Satellite broadband that could be utilized without updating current infrastructure;

·         Third generation wireless technology that utilizes a tower system similar to cellular telephones.

Although the solutions may be expensive, the promise of the technologies means it may not be long before some rural regions are able to access the Internet through high-speed connections.

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