Access to fast Internet is spreading in the U.S., but about 19 million Americans can't get it, according to a new government report out Tuesday. The report by the Federal Communications Commission shows improvement from the agency's data last year that showed 26 million were without access to such Internet service.
The FCC says its latest report was based on data it had as of June 2011. The decline partially reflects Internet service providers' expansion beyond suburbs, but the FCC also attributes it to data collection that improved from its previous efforts.
The lack of access continues to hamper rural Americans in particular. About 14.5 million rural Americans - or 23.7 percent of 61 million people living in rural areas - had no fast Internet service offered for their homes. In contrast, only 1.8 percent of Americans living in non-rural areas - 4.5 million out of 254.9 million - had no broadband access.
The FCC categorizes an Internet service as broadband if it transmits at a speed of at least 4 megabits per second. The report's ranking of states again underscored the correlation between broadband access and economic productivity. Economically struggling states fared worse than more thriving areas of the country
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