Digital metrics firm comScore released a study on broadband growth in rural, micropolitan and metropolitan areas in the United States.

The results: While broadband penetration is much higher in the metropolitan and micropolitan areas, broadband has experienced the most significant gains in rural areas during the past two years.

“Across the country we have witnessed growth in broadband adoption driven by greater price competition and increased consumer demand, as bandwidth-intense activities like video streaming and peer-to-peer sharing continue to grow,” Brian Jurutka, VP of telecommunications at comScore, said in a statement “With low-speed DSL priced at about the same level as dial-up in many areas, there is little incentive for households to remain on dial-up.”

Rural markets (defined as having a population less than 10,000) in the U.S. experienced a 16-percentage point increase in broadband penetration from Q2 2007 to Q2 2009, making it the fastest growing geographic market segment in the nation. Comparatively, micropolitan areas (population between 10,000-50,000) grew 14 percentage points during the same period, while metropolitan areas (population 50,000+) grew 11 percentage points.

The Daily

Subscribe
Wednesday–April 8

USF’s Administration Problem

For the last few years, certain communications practitioners have been quite animated over the need to fix the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF), focusing solely on the contributions side of the equation

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

May 5
T. Howard Foundation Annual Awards Dinner
Jun 4
2026 Cynopsis Sports Awards Presented in partnership with Cablefax
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact us at marketing@cynopsis.com, for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.