Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new study says people in rural communities are steadily hooking up to high-speed Internet service.

The report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows small towns are getting wired at a slower rate than cities. But in the Northwest, it's not for lack of trying. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

In rural north central Idaho, for example, tractors and chainsaws have long been the tools of economic development.

But computers and high-speed connections are growing in importance.

Christine Frei from the Clearwater Economic Development Association in Lewiston says the rural communities she serves are struggling to keep up.

Christine Frei: “We have a number of really good small manufacturers that are dependent on being able to send large data files via the Internet and find it difficult to do that.”

Frei says her agency is working with broadband companies to bring high speed connections to small towns. She says most communities have the basic infrastructure.

The problem is extending service beyond town boundaries to homes and businesses in the country.

That's expensive and it's one reason only 46-percent of rural Americans, according to the Pew study, have broadband connections. Still, that has doubled in the last three years.

Online:

Pew Internet and American Life Project broadband study