MobilityTechzone

Latest News

TMCNet: Utah ranks in top tier for Internet access: Technology ? Beehive State residents ride the crest.

[June 04, 2009]

Utah ranks in top tier for Internet access: Technology ? Beehive State residents ride the crest.

Jun 04, 2009 (The Salt Lake Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When Pete Ashdown opened up his Internet service provider business XMission in 1993, it was mainly a tool for computer geeks or serious researchers.

It started taking off in the mid 1990s, and has since exploded.

Only 18 percent of U.S. households had Internet access in 1997, but that jumped to 62 percent by 2007.

Utah has leapt with the best.

The Beehive state ranks sixth in the nation for residents who have access to the Web from home. Three of every four Utahns -- some 1.83 million of them -- live in a household with Internet access.

"As the younger generations get older, we'll see even more usage as they grew up in a world where they always had the Internet," Ashdown said. "It will become a ubiquitous utility." This new ranking follows a study released in March that showed Utah led the nation in online pornography, with 5.7 of every 1,000 home broadband users subscribing to adult entertainment sites, according to a study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives .

The new U.S. Census data looks only at Internet availability and use rates -- not at what content was accessed.

While Utah ranks sixth in the nation for the percentage of the population living in Web-connected homes, it ranks slightly higher -- fifth -- for the percentage of residents accessing the Internet in or outside the home: just under 72 percent.

Only Alaska, New Hampshire, Washington and Minnesota had higher rates of use.

Ashdown says the future is clear.

"As the Internet explodes and expands its reach, it's astounding to me how much it is part of everyone's lives today," he said. "You can't find a high school student without an e-mail address or Facebook page." Debbie Parry, who telecommutes from home twice a month in her job as accounting technician for the Department of Environmental Quality, has wholeheartedly embraced the Internet.

"When I'm in the office, I get interrupted constantly. I'm able to focus more at home. I think it's one of those intangible benefits," she said.

Nationwide, there's a strong tie between educational background and Internet access. Only 24 percent of households of those with less than a high school degree are wired, compared with 84 percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Asians beat out whites in Web access across the country, with 67.8 percent of Asians having at-home Internet access compared to 54.9 percent of non-Latio whites. Blacks had a 45.3 percent home access rate while Latinos were at 43.4 percent.

Those numbers don't surprise Sean Reyes, who is part Japanese, Hawaiian, Spanish and Filipino and is the vice president of Somos, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's outreach arm and sits on the board of the Asian Chamber of Commerce.

He says the fairly high numbers likely indicate that people use the Internet to talk with relatives in their home countries and that Internet connections seem to pop up in homes with children. He also surmises that the middle- and higher-income ethnic households would have similar access numbers to white households, he said.

"I would guess that older folks or immigrants who are really recent, they would be less likely to have them," Reyes said. "But if they've been here for a while, the Internet becomes such a part of everyday life, like a car, telephone or electricity." Utah has been among the most wired states in the country for much of the decade. In 2003, the state had the highest percentage of homes with a computer, at 74.1 percent, ahead of Alaska, New Hampshire and Washington. Utah ranked fifth nationally in that survey for the percentage of homes with Internet access, at 62.6 percent.

smcfarland@sltrib.com tsemerad@sltrib.com -- Top Ten States with Highest Percentage of Residents Living in Households with Internet Access [2007] New Hampshire -- 82.6 Alaska -- 78.5 Massachusetts -- 76.3 Washington -- 75.7 Vermont -- 75.2 Utah -- 74.8 Connecticut -- 74.5 New Jersey -- 74.0 Minnesota -- 73.7 Virginia -- 73.1 Source: Current Population Survey, U.S. Census To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ Back To MobilityTechzone Homepage's Homepage ]
FOLLOW MobilityTechzone

Subscribe to MobilityTechzone eNews

MobilityTechzone eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the Wireless industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter
Interview with VPI Systems
TMC's Rich Tehrani speaks with Russ Green, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for VPI Systems
Interview with Thrupoint
TMC's Paula Bernier speaks with David Jodoin, Chief Strategy Officer for Thrupoint
Interview with Nuance
TMC's Erik Linask speaks with Christy Clark Murfitt, Sr Manager of Solutions Mktg, Enterprise Division for Nuance
Interview with Abukai
TMC's Erik Linask speaks with Philipp Schloter, President & CEO of Abukai
Interview with DragonWave
TMC’s Stefanie Mosca speaks with Greg Friesen, VP, Product Management of DragonWave