Broadband Growth Stalls for Poor: Another Reason to Go Mobile
According to the new Home Broadband 2008 report from the Pew Internet and American Life project, it looks like low-income people will continue to have a harder time getting access to high-speed Internet.
In his summary of this report, Broadband Census editor Drew Clark noted that the adoption of broadband has leveled off among American households. This year, among poor and African-American households, broadband subscriptions have been at a standstill—or even negative. The current economic downturn hits Americans in unexpected places, it seems: the most-cited factor was the squeeze broadband fees put on already tight family budgets.
So what? Are we contradicting ourselves? Saying high-speed Internet is a lousy way to reach American households? No way! Currently 55% of American households have broadband. Many households that don’t have broadband still access the Internet via dialup. Therefore, it’s still important for news sites to track the type of connections visitors use, and to have your pages “degrade gracefully” into dialup-friendly versions for users on slower connections.
But here’s an even cooler option: go mobile. According to the New York Times and many other sources, cell phone usage is way up among poor Americans, especially immigrant populations.
Worldwide, this is even more true. In many parts of Africa, people can get a satellite phone signal in places where there is little apparent infrastructure. And of course, cell phone rentals is a booming global small business. In several African countries, people are even using cell phone minutes as currency. So if a lot of people who don’t have broadband are using their phones more and more, why not give them a jingle?
Voicemail news is a great thing to add to your news organization’s informational smorgasbord. It’s sort of like a podcast for your phone.
WGN in Chicago has a great handle on this one. Apparently it’s not hard to set up. This strategy lets you deliver your major stories to cell phone users who may not be able to access your web site—yet. Plus, this audio-based strategy can help overcome literacy barriers.
NOTE: This story was written by Meg Spohn and edited by Amy Gahran
