Broadband infrastructure and adoption in Oklahoma : 2012 edition.

              Current Report
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets are also available on our website at:
osufacts.okstate.edu
Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources • Oklahoma State University
CR-1044
0612
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
Introduction
Broadband, or high-speed, Internet access has become an increasingly important part of the lives of most Americans. This current report uses the latest available data to assess how broadband infrastructure and adoption is progressing across Oklahoma, and how the state compares to its neighbors and the nation as a whole.
Historically, broadband access has been defined as at least 200 kilobytes per second (kbps) of data transfer in at least one direction. However, the Federal Communications Commission has updated that definition on more than one occasion, with the current definition (as of 2012) being 4 megabytes per second (mbps) download and 1 mbps upload. Unless noted otherwise, this document will use the original definition of 200kbps to define broadband, since most of the data collected on this topic still uses that threshold.
Broadband Adoption
Rates of residential broadband adoption increased dra­matically during 2000 - 2010 for the nation as a whole. Figure 1 shows that the U.S. rate of household broadband adoption was around 65% in 2010, with another 5% still using dial-up. This leaves about 30% of all households with no type of In­ternet connection at home. Note that for this report, the term ‘adoption’ refers to a household actually paying for a monthly broadband connection, while ‘access’ denotes that broadband is available where the household is located.
Figure 1. Residential Broadband and Dial-up Adoption in the U.S., 2000 - 2010.
Broadband Infrastructure and Adoption
in Oklahoma: 2012 Edition
Brian Whitacre
Associate Professor and Extension Economist
In Oklahoma, the rate of residential broadband adoption was 62.5% in 2010, slightly below the national average of 65%. However, this rate masks a significant “digital divide” between rural and urban parts of the state, with 68% of urban households having a broadband connection compared to only 50% of rural households (ESA and NTIA, 2011). Figure 2 displays rural / urban broadband adoption rates for Okla­homa and some neighboring states in 2010. In this instance, rural refers to areas that do not contain a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area with at least 10,000 people.
Figure 2. Residential Broadband Adoption Rates by Rural / Urban Status in 5 States, 2010.
Source: PEW Internet and American Life Surveys 2000 – 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey Internet Use Supplement, October 2010.
Recently, estimates of broadband adoption at the county and census tract level have become available for the first time. Figure 3 shows household broadband adoption rates in Oklahoma at the census tract level in 2010. It is clear that the southeastern part of the state lags behind in terms of broad­band adoption, with rates typically less than 40%. On the other hand, many of the tracts surrounding the major metropolitan areas in the state (Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton) are extremely high with many having household adoption rates over 80%. Some rural parts of the state demonstrate very high levels of broadband adoption, such as Broken Bow, Cordell, and Woodward.