The U.S. federal government spends about $7.3 billion a year, every year, to foster broadband and telecommunications deployment. But "additional federal investments in broadband deployment...do not necessarily guarantee increased adoption," says the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO says "representatives from four organizations that provide broadband told us that between 80 percent and 90 percent of the residences in their service areas had access to broadband, but fewer than 60 percent subscribed."
For some providers, the subscribership rate was less than 40 percent.
Separately, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 75 percent of Americans use the Internet. About 57 percent use the Internet at home through broadband, nine percent use the Internet at home through dial-up connections and eight percent use the Internet from work or the library.
The Pew report also found that some Americans, particularly elderly or low-income persons, choose not to use the Internet, even when broadband technology is available.
A separate study by U.K. regulator Ofcoms found similar results. Even if given free PCs and broadband, 43 percent of adults who currently do not have Internet access would not use it.
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