One in Three U.S. Counties Unserved by Broadband
The FCC’s Sixth Broadband Deployment Report, released late Tuesday, said only a small percentage of Americans don’t have access to broadband -- 14-24 million in a population of almost 310 million (CD July 21 p1) -- but almost one third of U.S. counties are unserved. Broadband “have nots” live in the smallest, most rural parts of the country and tend to be poorer than average, it said, and Native Americans remain largely unserved.
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The FCC found that 1,024 out of 3,230 U.S. counties are unserved. On average, those counties have a population of 23,479 and a population density of 138.3 people per square mile. In contrast, the average U.S. county is the home to 95,481 and has a population density of 283.5 per square mile.
Texas has the most unserved areas of any state, at 142. Kentucky and Mississippi followed with 59 each. Puerto Rico had the largest unserved population, according to the report, with almost 4 million unserved by broadband. Among states, those with the largest unserved populations were mostly in the South. North Carolina ranked first, with 3.45 million unserved. Other states with large unserved populations, in order, were Texas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Hawaii had the smallest number of residents not served by broadband, at 100,000, followed by Washington, Oregon, Indiana and Iowa.
The unserved also make less money than average. “We find that, when measured in 1999 dollars, on average, the 1,024 unserved areas have a Median Household Income of $28,626 compared to $34,809 for the U.S. as a whole,” the report said. “We find that, when measured in 2008 dollars, for 934 of the 1,024 unserved areas for which we have this information, the unserved areas have a Median Household Income, on average, of $37,785 compared to $44,172 for the U.S. overall.” Also, on average, 18.4 percent of the population live in poverty in the 934 unserved areas for which the FCC has data, compared to 15.2 percent of the U.S. population overall.
The report is the first to contain more granular data on Native American areas. It said only 12.5 percent of all households in “Native Homeland” areas subscribe to a broadband service faster than dialup, compared to 56 percent of all households nationwide.
Free Press Research Director Derek Turner said the FCC drew the right conclusion in finding in the latest version of its Sect. 706 report that broadband services are not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely manner. The “report is the first time the FCC has determined that broadband deployment is not reasonable and timely, and we are extremely pleased that the Genachowski FCC had the courage to do what all previous Commissions could not, and that is to put politics aside and take an objective look at the law and the data,” Turner said. “Millions of Americans lack access to broadband, and tens of millions more have only the option to purchase slow connections that fall well short of the congressional definition of ‘broadband’ -- at expensive prices. … Now that the FCC has taken the first step of acknowledging America’s broadband problem, we hope that it will advance policies to reverse this decline though the promotion of real competition and true consumer choice.”
Rural Cellular Association President Steve Berry said he hopes the report will lead the FCC to seek more timely and reasonable deployment of broadband. “In recent years, we have seen a number of successes regarding broadband deployment, but the FCC’s report correctly concludes that there is more work to be done in order to ensure that all Americans, especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas, have the capacity to access broadband services,” Berry said. “Wireless deployments are the most efficient, cost-effective ways to provide broadband access as we continue to modernize and deploy next generation services.”
Media Access Project Vice President Parul Desai said the report “appropriately updates the standard for what speeds count as broadband, and recognizes the gaping digital divide in communities throughout this country.” The report also shows that the FCC is on the right track in pushing for the reclassification of broadband transmission as a Title II service, Desai said.
"The Federal Communications Commission rightly finds” that “all” should have access to broadband, said Benton Foundation CEO Charles Benton. “If 14 to 24 million Americans can not make use of today’s essential communications tool, then the U.S. has a problem. In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, we need all Americans connected to the tools that are essential to jobs and economic growth, democratic engagement and civic engagement, health and public safety, and education and lifelong learning.”