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October 27, 2000 Rural
Internet access increases
in Iowa, Michael
Corey DES MOINES, Iowa.--Two state studies and national statistics released in recent months suggest that the technical side of Iowa's "digital divide" could be closed soon. Bill Gillis, chairman of the Rural Task Force -- a group that advises the Federal Communications Commission on rural access to new technologies -- said the reports are a mixed bag. "It appears that there's been a lot of progress in giving people access to the Internet," he said. "It's a whole different can of worms when we're talking about the higher-speed stuff." According to a briefing paper for Gov. Tom Vilsack, 57 out of 805 local telephone exchanges did not have local access to an Internet Service Provider in December 1999. The report says this means that only 1.3 percent of the state's telephone customers were without local access.
Generally, Iowans have been able to respond to technological developments. According to the state briefing report, 58 percent of Iowans have computers at home, and 43 percent of Iowans use the Internet at home. The FCC said 41.5 percent of homes nationwide had Internet access of some kind in August 2000. Nationally, 38.9 percent of households in rural areas had Internet access this year, and the gap has shrunk by 75 percent. But rural communities still lag behind in access to high-speed "broadband" connections, which are necessary to receive quality audio and video information. Broadband access is generally defined as a connection that allows data to be transferred at 200 kilobytes per second in at least one direction. In December 1999, 5 percent of Iowans had broadband access in their homes, the report said. According to an FCC study, 77 percent of Iowa counties had no high-speed service providers as of December 1999, compared to 41 percent of counties nationwide. Richard Varn, Iowa's chief information officer and director of the state information technology department, said advanced services are spreading rapidly in Iowa. "Within the next 12 months, a substantial majority of the communities in Iowa will have access" to broadband service, Varn said. The FCC has said it feels "broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion," noting that broadband technology has developed much quicker than other communications technologies, such as cell phones. But progress has not come without some coaxing. Gillis said developing broadband access for rural customers is not cost-effective for providers of the two dominant high-speed services - cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line technologies. Both have been popular because they use existing cable and phone lines, but they are not practical for those who live outside of a town. "The thing about cable, though, is that it doesn't go out into the farmlands. Most rural towns have cable. But as you go out, it's not as common," Gillis said. DSL lines must end less than five miles from a central telephone switching office, at least with current technology. Varn said state government can play a role in making Internet access cheaper for consumers and providers. Varn is in charge of getting state government online, and he said the increase in services available to Iowans should increase demand for Internet access. "There are several things that citizens say they want from the Internet, and three things out of the six have to do with government," Varn said. The federal government offers money to companies that promise they will offer universal service or service to all customers in their coverage area. Traditionally, phone companies often would not offer premium services where it was not cost-effective. Companies must also promise to offer Internet services at a comparable price to all customers to have access to the federal money. New technologies might further increase the rate of high-speed access penetration in the state. Wireless modem service, which is already used in Iowa communities, only requires a routing tower and an antenna at the user's point of access. But there must be a clear path between the two antennas to avoid interference, and wireless service forces companies to fight for radio wave spectrum that is becoming more and more expensive. Two-way satellite access, which Varn said should be offered in some markets soon, would require even less local investment. Satellite service might also be limited by line-of-sight requirements, however, and poor weather can inhibit transmission. Varn said closing the technical gap will not close the digital divide. He said many people in rural areas need training in how to use the Internet or may not understand the value of the technology. "(Internet access) has become like water. It's become like electricity," Varn said. "If you don't have access to this as a society, you might as well start calling it a second-world country." Related Items: * The FCC singled out Muscatine in its broadband report. It noted that the Iowa Communications Network, a state-run network of fiber-optic lines in all 99 counties, has allowed local utilities to provide high-speed access to smaller communities. * Despite the gains, national studies found that minorities use the Internet much less than the national average, and the gap is increasing. Computer ownership by minorities is 17-18 percentage points below the national average, and the gap has held steady since 1998. On the Web: Assessing High-Speed Internet Access in the State of Iowa -- www.state.ia.us/government/com/util/_private/Misc/broadband_report.pdf Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion -- http://search.ntia.doc.gov/pdf/fttn00.pdf Iowa's Digital Divide -- www.state.ia.us/government/its/Digital_Divide/Digital_Divide.htm Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability: Second Report -- www.fcc.gov/broadband Other Links: Iowa Information Technology Web Site - www.state.ia.us/government/its Federal Communications Commission - www.fcc.gov |