Despite economy, broadband use rises in California

A slumping economy didn't stop an increasing number of Californians from accessing the Internet in their homes using broadband, but the digital divide along ethnic and income lines persists. The Public Policy Institute of California survey interviewed more than 2,500 people and found that 62 percent said they had broadband at home, a seven-point increase from last year. The results mirrored the national average reported last week by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project: 63 percent. In the Bay Area, 84 percent of respondents said they owned a home computer and 73 percent said they used broadband, significantly more than any other large metropolitan area in the state. But the number of broadband users is drastically lower than what the state's infrastructure can sustain. Last year, a broadband taskforce found that 96 percent of the state's households had access to broadband, meaning that approximately 34 percent of them can have broadband but are not using it.