Digital divide persists in North Carolina despite broadband availability; task force seeks to drive up usage

North Carolinians aren’t the quickest adopters when it comes to broadband. Despite the fact that around 94.8 percent of North Carolinians have access to high-speed internet, only 59.4 percent of households adopt it, according to the Federal Communications Commission. “It’s pretty low. That’s a good 40 percent of the population that has access but is still not adopting,” said Amy Huffman, NC Department of Information Technology’s digital equity and digital inclusion program manager. It affects rural and urban areas equally. “That’s a big problem,” she said. On Oct 31, Huffman joined government officials and community leaders as part of Gov Roy Cooper’s (D-NC) Task Force on Connecting North Carolina focused on tackling some of the barriers contributing to North Carolina’s digital divide. Huffman said there are a number of reasons behind the state’s low adoption rates. Among them: service and equipment costs, lack of digital literacy and information skills, and not understanding how the internet is relevant to people’s daily lives. A survey conducted by the department found that 67% of the households said cost is the number one reason they do not have internet access. Another 24% said high-speed internet access is not available in their area.