California has always been the land of the future. It’s the glitzy home of Hollywood’s special effects, San Francisco’s high tech billionaires and Silicon Valley’s remarkable innovation. So you might expect everyone in the Golden State to have blazing fast internet at their fingertips.
But if that’s what you thought, you’d be wrong. Very wrong.
According to SFGate.com, A recent survey shows that 25% of Golden State residents come up critically short when it comes home broadband. This is worrisome to analysts, who believe this gaping disparity will increase the disparity between the state’s rich and its poor.
California has set a lofty goal for itself — they want to extend broadband connections to 80% of its homes by 2017. On top of that, the state wants to see to it that no demographic group or region falls below 70%. (Left-handed, one-eyed, multi-cultural lesbians in Hanford, rejoice!)
Unfortunately, California is falling short (as it seems to do in so many areas of endeavor these days). According to a recent Field Poll, the state’s neediest and and its non-English-speakers don’t enjoy the same access to high-speed internet access that most of its citizens do.
Here are the numbers according to SFGate.com:
“While 75 percent of all Californians reported having access to broadband in their home, the percentage plummets among residents who didn’t graduate from high school (32 percent); Spanish-speaking Latinos (46 percent), all Latinos (63 percent), people over 65 years old (47 percent), people with disabilities (59 percent) and those with household incomes of less than $20,000.”
Only 60 percent of noncitizens reported broadband access at home, according to the survey.
Community activists point out that life without high-speed internet has become increasingly problematic in today’s world. Since most jobs are now advertised online, it is very difficult to find a job without home internet access. In addition, they say that children in homes without broadband access all too frequently find themselves falling behind in school.
“It is the disadvantaged populations which get the most benefit out of being connected – it transforms their lives in so many ways. It makes it so much easier to get ahead if they are connected,” said Susan McPeak, president and Chief Executive Officer of the California Emergency Technology Fund, the organization that funded the Field Survey that compiled these distressing statistics.
Some other interesting (and depressing) findings of the poll:
- 84% of parents used their high-speed home connection to help children with homework
- 75% use it to find information about homework and grades
- 8% of respondents’ could only connect to the internet via smartphones
Without a high-speed home connection, respondents “were less likely to conduct financial transactions online, visit a government website, or get medical information or communicate with their doctor” according to SFGate.com.
CheapInternet.com has long advocated free high-speed internet connections for all financially-struggling American families. This survey confirms our belief that this service is vital if California and America are going to thrive in the decades to come.
Human capital is our most important resource. Without free broadband access, we are condemning a generation to poverty and ignorance and limiting everyone’s future.
Alton Lawrence says
I’m A disabled veteran on a fixed income who hasn’t gotten the means for internet, cable or phone, I pray that I am blessed to be able to qualify for the assistance. Please notify me of any updates on how to go about getting enrolled. Thank you for sharing this, hopefully I am eligible for the service.