New report illustrates New England's digital divide
(NECN: Ted McEnroe) – A report out this week shows that New England sits on a digital divide – with Northern New Englanders missing out on broadband access. But first, it’s an old adage (by Internet standards). Traditional media companies would be fine, if it wasn’t for all those folks sharing music and movies on peer-to-peer networks like the former Napster. Turns out, those file swappers are actually some of entertainment’s best customers. Frank Magid Associates did a study for the P2P network Vuze, and found its users were actually more likely to have higher-end HDTVs, gaming consoles, DVD players and home theaters than their peers. More surprisingly, they spent more on DVDs, movie rentals and trips to the theater than their peers, too. Cynics can say that you have to rent or buy something in order to share it – but that doesn’t really explain it. The reality is that these file sharers are also the most avid and engaged audience for the files they are sharing. Does file sharing cost the entertainment industry billions? No doubt. But as the industry wrestles with the problem, it may have to remember that it’s dealing with its best customers as it tries to fix things. Meanwhile, a new report finds that the U.S. is a little slow when it comes to broadband – and finds a stark difference among New England states, too. The report sponsored by the Communications Workers of America finds that broadband speeds in the U.S. rank it 28th in the world, at 5.1 mbps. (South Korea is number one at 20.8 mbps.) But at the state level, the results illustrate a ‘digital divide’ within New England. Four states – Rhode Island (#2), Massachusetts (#4), New Hampshire (#8) and Connecticut (#9) rank in the Top 10 for fast Internet speeds. The other two – Maine (#42) and Vermont (#45) rank near the bottom. What drives the difference? Two major reasons jump out – the study found urban areas were much more likely to have broadband than rural areas, and wealthier homes are more likely to be wired than poorer ones. (Makes sense: rural areas are harder to wire, and broadband does cost money.) Guess which two New England states are both the poorest and most rural in the region? It illustrates the major challenge policymakers face to level the playing field by making broadband more accessible in rural areas that could benefit, and making it more affordable – neither of which is an easy problem to address.
