• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 28, 2006

Nearly four in 10--39 percent--of U.S. adults had home broadband connections by the end of last year, but the share of rural adults with high-speed connections remained much lower--just 24 percent, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Still, the disparity between rural residents and the non-rural U.S. population shrank somewhat since 2003, when just 9 percent of those who lived in rural areas had broadband compared to 22 percent of urban and suburban residents.

Why the gap? One reason might be that broadband isn't as readily available in rural areas. Two years ago, Pew researchers asked dial-up users whether broadband was available where they lived; among rural users, 27 percent said it was not available, while just 15 percent of all dial-up users said the same.

Pew also reported that rural Web users were less likely than their suburban and urban counterparts to purchase travel, bank online, use online classifieds, or read a blog. Fifty-one percent of rural Internet users said they had booked or purchased a travel reservation online, compared to 65 percent of urban and suburban adults; while 34 percent of rural users banked online, compared to 43 percent of urban/suburban users. About one in three rural users--30 percent--have used online classifieds, compared to 37 percent of suburban/urban users; and 21 percent of rural users have read a blog, compared to 28 percent of urban/suburban users.

On the other hand, rural users were more likely than suburban/urban users to download a screensaver (28 percent, compared to 22 percent); download computer games (25 percent versus 20 percent); take a class for credit (15 percent versus 11 percent); and play fantasy sports (9 percent versus 7 percent). The report's results were gleaned from various surveys conducted last year.