This project was undertaken in response to a request from the New York State Office of Cyber Security (OCS) in support of the activities of the New York State Broadband Development and Deployment Council. OCS is the recipient of a State Broadband Data and Development grant funded by the National Telecommunications Information Administration. The project was designed to develop and apply a method for answering basic questions about the access to and adoption of broadband internet services by New York State households.

The survey design and development are the product of a collaboration among the CTG project team and staff of the Center for Survey Research (CSR) at Stony Brook, SUNY. The CSR conducted the data collection portion of the project. CTG was responsible for designing the data analysis and reporting of project results. The CTG project team collaborated with The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government (RIG) for assistance with data analysis and presentation materials under the direction and support of the CTG team.

The project research addressed these questions:

• How do the demographics of New York State in terms of income, educational attainment, ethnicity, region, and age affect access to and uptake of broadband internet services by New York State residents?
• What other factors affect the access to and uptake of broadband internet services by New York State residents?
• What are the barriers to adoption of broadband services (e.g. cost, education, language, other cultural factors)?

The project team sought answers to these questions with household surveys planned to occur in two phases. Phase 1 included analysis of data from completed surveys collected up to January 5, 2011, presented in a preliminary report. The second phase covers all data from the 2064 surveys in the preliminary report combined with an additional 980 collected to complete the minimum of 3000 surveys called for in the project plan.

Two sampling levels were used: (1) a sample of 1,002 New York State residents chosen to be representative of the state as a whole (the New York State sample); and (2) an oversample of 2,042 New York State residents in low income counties selected to represent concentrations of underserved populations. A minimum of 1,000 completed surveys was required for the statewide sample, with 1,002 reported here, and 2,042 additional completed surveys for the low income counties with median family incomes below 80 percent of the state average.

The survey instrument was developed by the CRS and CTG, based in part on the recent surveys by the FCC and the Social Sciences Research Council. The instrument includes questions about the respondent’s demographic characteristics, location, availability of, access to, types of internet use, purchase decisions for broadband services, reasons for use/non use, and related technical information. All but two items are closed-end, fixed choice in form.

Surveys were conducted by telephone, including land line and cellular. The overall data collection was concluded in as short a time as possible to limit the effects of changes in broadband services or availability.

At the completion of the survey phases, the CSR submitted the survey results (an SPSS file) along with sufficient documentation of the data structure and coding to support comprehensive analysis. Aside from reviewing the data for purposes of error checking and cleaning, the polling organization was not responsible for additional analysis or narrative reporting concerning the results. The CSR was responsible for submitting a written report describing the polling methods and any additional information needed to support subsequent analysis. The Rockefeller Institute provided data analysis with methodological comments and preparation of results in tables or charts.

CTG prepared the final report: Broadband Internet Service Adoption and Use in New York State Households