Just as everyone thought that the idea of a national broadband plan couldn't get any more politically charged or controversial, new data has arrived that over half of all Americans think broadband's not a big deal and that the government should back off.
A Pew Center survey said that 53 percent of Americans thought that the government drop programs to improve broadband access or at least that these plans were "not too important." On the other hand, just to add a little confusion to an already befuddling situation, 41 percent said federal involvement was an "important" or "top" priority. For what it's worth--and it's probably worth a lot--most of the loudest dissenters were over the age of 50.
Part of the result was based on the fact that the American populace is becoming increasingly sated when it comes to broadband access. The report said that 66 percent of Americans now had broadband, an increase over last year's 63 percent number. Things really got juicy for African Americans, whose adoption rate climbed from 46 percent to 56 percent in the last year.
The Obama Administration has made nationwide broadband a priority, allocating $7.2 billion in stimulus funds for unserved or underserved areas.
For more:
- see this story
- the Washington Post has this story
Related articles:
FCC pushing ahead with broadband plan despite ruling
Detour on the road to universal broadband