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I NTERNET C ONNECTIVITY AND U SE IN N EBRASKA : R ESULTS FROM H OUSEHOLD B ROADBAND S URVEY June 22, 2010 Presented to the Nebraska Public Service Commission Funded by the Nebraska Public Service Commission through a grant from the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

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S URVEY M ETHODOLOGY 14 page questionnaire mailed in February and March 2010 Households sampled equally from eight regions of the state 47% response rate (2910 responses out of 6174 deliverable surveys) Margin of error = 1.8%

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S TUDY H IGHLIGHTS Approximately 4 out of 5 households (81%) in Nebraska have Internet service Just over three-quarters (76%) of households have broadband service

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D EMOGRAPHICS PLAY A ROLE Certain demographic groups are less likely than others to have both Internet and broadband service Age Older persons Household Income Households with lower household incomes Education Persons with lower education levels Families Households without children

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I NTERNET AND B ROADBAND S ERVICE BY D EMOGRAPHIC F ACTORS

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I NTERNET A CCESS AND B ROADBAND S ERVICE V ARIES A CROSS R EGIONS OF THE S TATE Metropolitan areas are more likely to have both Internet and broadband service Central Nebraska is the region least likely to have Internet service or broadband service

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I NTERNET A ND B ROADBAND S ERVICE BY R EGION

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E CONOMIC D EVELOPMENT D ISTRICT R EGIONS

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R EASONS FOR N OT H AVING A B ROADBAND C ONNECTION Cost is factor for many Some are satisfied with their current connection particularly older persons Many in the Central Nebraska area say it is not available

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R EASONS FOR N OT C URRENTLY H AVING A B ROADBAND C ONNECTION Total Older Persons Low Income Central Region It is not available 20%8%1%42% It is too expensive 48%44%61%50% I dont know enough about it 19%25%44%29% Im satisfied with current connection 25%33%17%21% I dont like choice of service providers available 5%3%0% I cant see the benefit of a broadband connection 1%0% I dont know 2%3% 0% Other 5%10%5%0% n = 118 for dial-up only users

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I NTERNET A CTIVITIES Common Internet activities for households include: e-mail, checking weather forecasts and reports, using a search engine, education and research, social networking, and online banking or bill pay. Broadband users are more likely than dial-up users to do each activity.

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I NTERNET A CTIVITIES BY T YPE OF I NTERNET A CCESS All Internet UsersDial-up UsersBroadband Users Send or receive e-mail989599 Check weather reports and forecasts 937094 Use an online search engine927693 For education or research917393 Get news online885990 Buy a product online865988 Visit a state or local government website 846385 Make travel arrangements763578 Watch a video on videosharing site like YouTube or GoogleVideo 722375 Listening to music723474 Online banking or bill pay703073 Use a social networking site like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook693571

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S ATISFACTION WITH I NTERNET S ERVICE Most households are satisfied with the reliability, speed and support of their Internet service. They are less satisfied with the price of their service. Dial-up users are more likely than broadband users to be satisfied with the price of their service. Broadband users are more likely than dial-up users to be satisfied with the reliability, speed and support of their service.

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S ATISFACTION WITH I NTERNET S ERVICE % very or somewhat satisfied

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S ATISFACTION WITH T YPES OF I NTERNET S ERVICES A VAILABLE IN A REA Opinions are mixed about the types of Internet service available in their community or area. Just over one-quarter (28%) are dissatisfied with the services in their area. Residents of the Southeast region are more likely than residents of other regions to express dissatisfaction with the types of services available.

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S ATISFACTION WITH T YPES OF I NTERNET S ERVICES A VAILABLE BY R EGION

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A DEQUACY OF I NTERNET S ERVICES Majority of Nebraskans believe Internet services available in their community or area are adequate for their household or businesses in the community. That perception changes when asked if they are adequate for attracting new residents or for future generations. Residents in nonmetropolitan areas are more likely than residents of metro areas to say the services are not at all adequate for attracting new residents or for future generations.

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I NADEQUACY OF I NTERNET S ERVICES FOR V ARIOUS I TEMS BY R EGION Your household Businesses in the community Attracting new residents Future generations % answering not at all adequate Central12112227 Lincoln area571419 Northeast1082527 Omaha area351016 Panhandle1092330 South Central882022 Southeast12152428 West Central1372328 Total771722 Outside city limits 15132534 Within city limits 451417

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A CCESS TO P UBLIC U SE F ACILITIES Most households (75%) have access to a public use facility where they can use an Internet- accessible computer for free. Southeast region residents and Central area residents are less likely to have access to such facilities.

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A CCESS TO P UBLIC U SE F ACILITY BY R EGION

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U SE OF C OMPUTERS AT P UBLIC U SE F ACILITIES BY I NTERNET S ERVICE Households with no Internet access at home use the computer resources at the public use facility more often than households with Internet at home.

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U SE OF C OMPUTERS AT P UBLIC U SE F ACILITY

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A CCESS TO AND U SE OF P UBLIC F ACILITIES BY R ACE American Indian/Alaska Natives are less likely to have access to a public use facility. Minority groups are more likely than whites to use the computer resources at the public use facility.

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A CCESS TO AND U SE OF P UBLIC U SE F ACILITIES BY R ACE

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A VAILABILITY OF F REE P UBLIC H OTSPOTS Almost one-half (46%) of households say there are free public Internet hotspots available in their community. Forty percent dont know if any are available. Metropolitan areas are more likely than nonmetropolitan areas to have free public hotspots available. Over one-third (35%) of Central area residents say there are no free public Internet hotspots in their community.

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A VAILABILITY OF F REE P UBLIC H OTSPOTS BY R EGION

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I MPORTANCE OF B ROADBAND A PPLICATIONS Most Nebraskans rate telehealth applications, online banking, distance learning opportunities, online government services, and contributing to economic growth in their community as important broadband applications.

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I MPORTANCE OF B ROADBAND A PPLICATIONS

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B ROADBAND P LANNING T EAM M EMBERS Anne Byers Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC) Phone: 402-471-3805 E-mail: anne.byers@nebraska.gov Connie Hancock UNL Extension Phone: 308-254-4455 E-mail: chancock1@unl.edu Tim OBrien State of Nebraska Department of Economic Development Phone: 402.471.3769 E-mail: tim.obrien@nebraska.gov Charlotte Narjes UNL Center for Applied Rural Innovation Phone: 402-472-1724 E-mail: cnarjes@unl.edu Becky Vogt UNL Center for Applied Rural Innovation Phone: 402-329-6251 E-mail: rvogt2@unl.edu