The new digital divide is about productivity through access to high-quality content through high-speed connections – and affordability of that quality. New analysis by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration underscores what the difference high-speed service can mean for communities, businesses, and individuals. Here is an excerpt:

The nationwide trend toward widespread adoption of broadband Internet connections has occurred among virtually all demographic groups, with nearly universal year-over-year growth. Adoption and growth rates, however, are uneven among various demographic groups. Over the past year, gaps decreased in a number of demographic categories, but persisted with respect to family income, education, age, race/ethnicity, employment status, household type, and disability status. Gender-specific adoption rates remained at virtual parity. The average urban-rural differential narrowed, but a ten-percentage point gap remains. State-specific adoption varied widely. Almost 72 percent of Americans use the Internet at some location, increasing from 68.4 percent twelve months prior. The most popular locations for Internet access outside the home are the workplace and school, followed by public libraries and “someone else’s house.” (Executive Summary)

The American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop shows the difference that speed can cost. Analyzing broadband speeds and costs per zip codes in the larger Washington metropolitan area reveals that price per megabit is not proportional.

Affordability is a clear issue for disability and poverty rights groups, like the Coalition for Accessible Telecommunications (COAT) and Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s President and CEO, Gary Knell.  Affordability was a major theme in the FCC’s report that accompanied the Broadband Plan, A Giant Leap and a Big Deal. Additionally, research conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to use mobile technologies to access the internet; though the reasons for these differences are complex, access to cheaper mobile technologies can help to address the digital divide for minorities, and others who are traditionally underserved.