This isn’t earth-shattering news to many of us but a recent FCC survey confirms that broadband/Internet training is as important to non-users as access. The FCC surveyed 5005 people by phone from October to November 2009. The survey indicates only 4 percent of Americans have no access to broadband. That’s not to minimize lack of access – but simply to also raise the importance of adoption programs.

Here are some of the highlight results from the survey:

How many people are online?
78 percent of adults are Internet users
67 percent of U.S. households contain a broadband user who accesses the service at home.
6 percent of Americans use dial-up Internet connections as their main form of home access.
6 percent are Internet users but do not use it from home; they access the Internet from places such as work, the library or community centers.

Who isn’t online at home?
46 percent of adults whose highest level of education is a high school degree are broadband users at home;
82 percent of adults who have attended or graduated from college are broadband users at home.
52 percent of Americans in households with annual incomes of $50,000 or below have broadband at home
87 percent of households with incomes above $50,000 have broadband at home.
those whose annual household incomes fall below $20,000—broadband adoption stands at 40 percent.
59 percent of African-Americans have broadband at home.
49 percent of Hispanics (English and Spanish speaking) have broadband at home.
42 percent of Americans with disabilities have broad¬band at home.
35 percent of seniors (over 65) have broadband at home
75 percent of Parents with minor children at home are more likely than average to have broadband at home.
50 percent of rural residents have broadband, a rate that reflects in part the older and less wealthy rural population but also the lack of available infra¬structure.

Who’s online with their handheld?
30 percent of American adults have used a handheld device (e.g., cell phone or smart phone) to access the Internet.1
39 percent of African-Americans have accessed the Internet with a handheld device.
39 percent of Hispanics have accessed the Internet with a handheld device.

How much do we pay?
Americans pay nearly $41 per month for broad¬band service, but half of those who receive their broadband in a bundle with other services cannot identify the Internet portion of their bill.

Why aren’t people going online?
By a 57 percent to 39 percent margin, non-adopters of broadband at home say they strongly agree that it is too easy to have their personal information stolen online.
22 percent of adults are not Internet users. They are the oldest non-adopting group, with a median age of 60, and include the highest share of Hispanics (at 20 percent). Some 84 percent have high school degrees or less and half live in households with annual incomes of $30,000 per year or less.
Of these non-adopters, 12 percent say they cannot get broad¬band where they live. (This translates into a 4 percent share of Americans.)
36 percent of non-adopters cite cost as the main rea¬son they do not have high-speed Internet at home. (Non-adopters concerned with cost would be willing to pay, on average, $25 per month for broadband.)
22 percent of non-adopters cite factors pointing to lack of digital literacy as the main reason they are not online.
19 percent of non-adopters do not have broadband because they question its relevance to their lives.
One-quarter (24 percent) of non-adopters have had expe¬rience with broadband, meaning they once had service at home or have used it at work or someplace else.

Non-users have more concerns about Internet content:
65 percent strongly agree there is too much pornography and offensive material on the internet.
57 percent strongly agree that it too easy for their per¬sonal information to be stolen online.
46 percent strongly agree that the internet is too danger¬ous for children.