freepress.net - A new study from the Pew Internet Project has found that while overall broadband adoption is up, the portion of African Americans with high-speed Internet access showed only modest growth in the past year, while among lower-income households it actually declined.
The survey found that 55 percent of all adult Americans have broadband service, up from 47 percent in a similar study conducted in early 2007.
The study comes amid increasing anxiety about a digital divide in the United States, a concern heightened by a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the multinational economic forum that ranked the United States as No. 15 in average broadband speed among the 30 countries it measured.
Another research group, IDC, has reported that China eclipsed the United States in total Internet users last year.
One group looking to make the digital divide a part of the national debate is Internet for Everyone, a nonprofit coalition of public-interest groups and businesses formed last month to press for a national broadband policy.
