Among US households with incomes of $30,000 and less, only 54% have access to broadband at home, says Kathryn Zickuhr, a research associate with Pew Research Center’s Internet Project.
Unfair Phone Charges for Inmates
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The Federal Communications Commission ended a grave injustice when it prohibited price-gouging by the private companies that provide interstate telephone service for prison and jail inmates. Thanks to the FCC order, which takes effect next month, poor families no longer have to choose between paying for basic essentials and speaking to a relative behind bars.
Latest Pew Study Shows 70 Percent of US Has Broadband. But Access Is Still Unequal
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Pew released survey results showing that the percentage of Americans with home “high speed broadband” connections has ticked up from 66 to 70 percent since April 2012. Pew calls this a “small but statistically significant rise.” The news of an overall rise in “high-speed broadband” adoption will likely be trumpeted by America’s giant communications companies and policymakers as the bright spot: “We’re not doing so badly!” But before we start celebrating, it’s a good idea to look closely at the results.
Why don’t Facebook and Google just embrace that they’re monetizing the third world?
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
You’d be hard pressed to find many fooled that Internet.org is anything but a Trojan horse for some big tech companies to access new customers.
Home Broadband 2013
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
As of May 2013, 70% of American adults ages 18 and older have a high-speed broadband connection at home, according to a nationally representative survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
US regulations hard on small phone firms, Sen Pryor, panel hear
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
While scattered populations and difficult terrain make it hard to provide phone and Internet access in rural America, government regulatory burdens are an even bigger problem, the vice president of Arkansas-based Ritter Communications told a Senate hearing.
The Web-Deprived Study at McDonald’s
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Cheap smartphones and tablets have put Web-ready technology into more hands than ever. But the price of Internet connectivity hasn't come down nearly as quickly. And in many rural areas, high-speed Internet through traditional phone lines simply isn't available at any price. The result is a divide between families that have broadband constantly available on their home computers and phones, and those that have to plan their days around visits to free sources of Internet access. That divide is becoming a bigger problem now that a fast Internet connection has evolved into an essential tool for completing many assignments at public schools.
US Internet Users Pay More for Slower Service
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The American copper wire telephone system is, in fact, becoming obsolete. The physical switches used in the network are reaching the end of their useful lives. But now that cable has won the battle for wired Internet service and consumers are moving to mobile phones for voice service, the telephone companies are looking to shed the obligation to maintain their networks at all. Meanwhile, the U.S. is rapidly losing the global race for high-speed connectivity.