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General Lunch Session

A Real Look at How Many Arkansans are Online, How Do We Stack Up Nationally, and How Can Arkansas Be a Leader in Broadband Subscription and Adoption?

Introductions: Ms. Claire BaileySpeakers:• Mr. John Horrigan• Mr. Clint Reed

#ConnectingAR

Broadband Adoption & Policy Challenges: Lessons & Future Directions

John B. Horrigan, PhD

Presented at Arkansas Internet ConferenceSeptember 2013

Questions

• How has our understanding of the broadband adoption problem evolved since 2009?– Look at some myths & puncture them

• How has our view of broadband adoption solutions evolved since 2009?

• What does the data tell us?• What are lessons for Arkansas & the nation?

TRENDS!!

Overview of tech usage trends(among individuals, data from Pew & NTIA)

Cell Phone Internet Use Broadband at home

Smartphone

1998 37% 36% n/a n/a

2000 53 50 3 n/a

2003 65 61 16 n/a

2006 73 70 42 n/a

2009 82 74 63 17

2012 88 81 72 45

2013 91 85 70 56

Broadband adoption in Arkansas – Closing the Gap

Source: NTIA – % households with broadband

2007 2009 2010 20110

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

38

51 52.4

59.9

51

63.568.3 69Arkansas

United States

Advanced online access -- Broadband at home + smartphone

Source: Pew Internet, % adults with device or service

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

70 7464

5348 52

43

10 615

22

1314

3

Smartphone only

Broadband80% 80% 79%

75%

61%66%

Gaps Remain:Internet, Broadband, Smartphone Adoption

(Pew April 2013 Data)• 85% of all Americans are Internet users.• 70% of all Americans have broadband at home.• 56% of all Americans have a Smartphone.

Group % who use the Internet

% with broadband at

home

% with Smartphones

(2013)

Seniors (65+) 56% 43% 18%

HH income < $30K yearly

76 54 43

Less than HS education

59 37 36

Hispanics 76 53 60Blacks 85 64 64Rural 80 62 40

Nature of the problem in 2009• 63% of Americans with broadband.• iPhone was just 2 years old … 1 in 6 adults had a

smartphone.• Two different views of the problem:– It’s about fairness –

• Getting more people online an end in itself• The right incentives (e.g., price) might lure people online

– Problem … what problem?• So what if people don’t want broadband• People will get it eventually• Father time will take care of low adoption rates among old

folks

Nature of the problem in 2013• Nearly 3 in 4 Americans have broadband at home.• More than half have smartphones.• New & different views of the problem:– Solving the adoption problem is about demonstrating

compelling uses and building digital skills/literacy.– Cost of digital exclusion is real & rising.– Problem … what problem?

• Wireless smartphones are game-changers.

• Undeniable fact – the problem is smaller:– Truly disconnected numbered 100 million in 2009.– Today that figure is 60 million.

Myths that have been punctured … or should be• Myth #1: Incentives are enough to get people online.

But we have discovered that … • Barriers to adoption are multiple & complex.• Should not be limited by “motor voter” thinking.

• Myth #2: We have a computer adoption problem, not a broadband adoption problem. And we have learned …

• This begs the key issues, which are the skill/relevance barriers that prevent people from adopting digital technology.

• Myth #3: Smartphones/wireless solves everything. And what’ve we learned is …

• Smartphones supplement online access tools; they do not substitute for existing ones.

• Users with smartphones as their only access device do fewer things online.• Wireless, because of business plan experimentation, makes home

broadband subscription the anchor to online use.• Smartphones & other wireless tools are magic.

Solutions Animating principal – use the tools of

technological innovation to solve the broadband adoption problem

• Fold digital literacy into service delivery:– Demand pull is key– Recognize role of libraries– Meet people where they are community outreach & using trusted

institutions. • This is a technology transfer problem.

• Focus on known barriers:– Cost pricing plans/business models can be your friends– Relevance social media can help people see value to connectivity– Digital skills/literacy more bandwidth/multiple access tool today

can help people acquire skills faster.

Resources

• Internet Essentials• Connect 2 Compete• Broadband Adoption Toolkit – NTIA• Sustaining capacity:– Public-private partnerships– Public investment

What’s a state or local policymaker to do?• You are where the action is:– DC of limited help, though NTIA a great store of

expertise.– BTOP has helped build an infrastructure to help you

address the problem … IE & C2C following on.– States are starting to get this – Arkansas too.

• Broadband adoption/use/literacy gaps are solvable: – It’s a ground game, but we know how to move the

ball.– Find the money: Public investment can leverage a lot

of community action, e.g. IL, NY.

What’s a state or local policymaker to do?• Don’t think there is an efficiency/equity trade-off:

– Today what’s fair is also efficient, in terms of delivery of governmental, health care, and educational service.

• Understand that broadband adoption is about developing human capital:– That’s an input to economic development, but upstream

• Meet emerging challenges – Digital skills & literacy for all citizens:– Internet’s about to get more valuable – and more complex– Navigate apps driven by “Internet of things”– New business models place more informational demands on

consumers• Tackling these challenges can accelerate use and therefore

improve investment proposition for new networks.

CLINT H. REED, PARTNERIMPACT MANAGEMENT GROUP

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