June 2013 — The Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released Exploring the Digital Nation: America’s Emerging Online Experience, a report describing the adoption and use of broadband in the United States. According to the report broadband is available to over 90% of Americans, but the percentage who actually use it in the home is about 70%. Reasons cited for the disparity include cost and the perception that there is no need to use the Internet at home. Adoption rates also varied according to demographics. For example, broadband adoption was lower among rural households, households headed by a person with a disability, and households with lower income. Nevertheless, the NTIA report argues that broadband adoption can be beneficial for finding employment, career training, accessing medical information, encouraging civic engagement, and accessing financial information and consumer services.
Update on Broadband Adoption and Use
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The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies is sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under grant number 90RE5007-01-00. The opinions contained in this website are those of the Wireless RERC and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or NIDILRR.