Report: Digital Divide still exists, hurts rural Americans

There is a 12 percent gap in domestic Internet access between rural and urban households, according to a new Agriculture Department Economic Resource Service report.

"Rural Broadband at a Glance" found that 48 percent of rural households don't have a high speed Internet connection.  Most of these households don't have broadband because it is not available to them.

The report explains the effect the digital divide has on rural Americans:

"The main limitation of slower, dial-up Internet access is that many content-dense applications and documents, and such critical services as anti-virus protections, are not readily usable via dial-up due to low transmission capability and speed."

Despite the significant digital divide, broadband availability in rural areas has taken dramatic strides in this decade. Between 2000 and 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports that there was a 60 percent increase in the availability of high speed Internet connections in rural America.

The report found that certain government policies designed to increase adoption and access to high speed Internet connections have worked, including the FCC's School and Libraries program and the Agriculture Department's telemedicine and distance learning programs.

Rural Broadband At a Glance - 2009 Edition (Department of Agriculture)