Rural youth are abandoning traditional wireline service for wirel...
Rural youth are abandoning traditional wireline service for wireless, said NTCA and the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS). In a study, the groups found 67% of respondents had a cellphone. Of those, 72% said they use wireline phones only…
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at home, usually to save wireless minutes, and 10% never use a wireline phone, it said. The study said rural young people use many cellphone features, including voice, text messaging, push-to-talk, picture taking and video gaming. It said 34% of respondents rated their cellphone service quality “excellent” or “extremely good,” 31% “good” and 35% “fair” or “poor.” More than 3/4 of survey respondents get wireless service from national carriers and 10% from local providers, the study said. It said 43% of respondents use 250 or fewer minutes a month, 29% 250-500 minutes, 13% 500-750 minutes, 8% 750-1,000 minutes and 7% more than 1,000 minutes. The study said 31% of respondents pay $31-$50 monthly for wireless service, 28% more than $50 and 18% less than $30. It said 67% of respondents’ parents/guardians pay their wireless bills, 28% pay themselves and the rest have somebody else pay. The study said 71% of respondents are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their wireless service choices; the remainder are “unsatisfied” or “very unsatisfied.” More than 40% of those using cellphones for voice calls only don’t need other services, the study said; 37% believe other services cost too much, 12% don’t know what other services are available and 8% can’t get other services in their areas. Cellphone service is considered “most essential” by survey responders, followed by landline phone, broadband Internet access, dial-up Internet and wireless Internet service, the study said. Keeping in touch with parents or guardians was the most commonly cited reason for having a cellphone, followed closely by personal safety, it said. More than 80% of rural young people have access to the Internet at home, the study said. Of those, 55% use a dial-up connection, 29% DSL, 5% cable modem, 3% wireless and 1% satellite, the study said. “These numbers reflect the dominant role DSL plays in rural broadband infrastructure,” the study said: “The 84% Internet connection rate at home for rural youth is slightly higher than the national rate of 68%.” The study said 43% of respondents use Internet up to an hour a day, 41% 1-3 hours, 11% 3-5 hours and 6% more than 5 hours. As in previous years, e-mail (69%) is the most commonly cited online activity, followed by homework/research (66%), instant messaging (62%), Web surfing (49%), downloading music (43%), online gaming (41%), shopping (38%), downloading video (15%) and blogging (4%). The study said 20% of respondents have wireless networks at home, while 24% use public access to wireless Internet. It said 43% of respondents use a local phone company as an ISP; 18% use a local ISP company, 8% a national ISP and 6% a local cable company.