Broadband penetration in rural areas grew by 9% in Q2 YOY. According to a study done by ComScore, the rural areas had significant gains in the past two years, whereas broadband penetration is very high in the metropolitan and micropolitan areas. East Coast has a significant percent of the total high-speed broadband connections in the US.



Rural areas Outpace Metros

In rural areas, broadband growth rate is higher than either the Metropolitan or the Micropolitan areas. The growth rate is 16% when compared to Q2'07 and 9% when compared to Q2'08. Whereas, the growth rate in Metropolitan area is 11% when compared to Q2'07 and 5% when compared to Q2'08. During the same period, Micropolitan area connections reached grew 14% from Q2'07 to Q2'09 and 7% from Q2'08 to Q2'09.

Metropolitan Areas Have 92% Broadband Penetration

According to the report Metropolitan area connections reached 92%, Micropolitan area connections are reached 83% and rural are broadband connections are reached 75% in Q2'09. Even though the rural areas had a rapid growth, the broadband penetration of 75% remains well below the national average of 89%. Lower broadband penetration in rural areas can be attributed to the lower Internet usage the other regions.

The Fastest Growing and the Largest Local Markets

If the fastest growing local broadband markets are concerned, the smaller markets in terms of area are the growth spots. Ft. Myers, Naples is the fastest growing market with a growth rate of 12% from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009. Similarly, most of the top positions are dominated by smaller markets. When it comes to the nation's largest markets, they are closer to saturation and just managed a single-digit growth. New York, the largest local market with 96% broadband penetration just managed to grow by 2% YOY.

Even though the growth in broadband penetration in the Metro region is near to saturation, the rural markets are set to power the broadband penetration. However, as the demand from the high-end applications such as video streaming becomes a regular activity, the Metropolitan and Micropolitan areas will show growth in terms of the quality of the broadband such as speed and connectivity.