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Looking beyond digital broadband speeds: Rural British Columbian's experiences with internet connectivity as a basic necessity.

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Názov: Looking beyond digital broadband speeds: Rural British Columbian's experiences with internet connectivity as a basic necessity.
Autori: Rush KL; School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada., Seaton CL; School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada., Louloudi AI; School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada., Li EPH; Faculty of Management, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada., Hasan K; Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2025 Sep 08; Vol. 20 (9), pp. e0330347. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Sep 08 (Print Publication: 2025).
Spôsob vydávania: Journal Article
Jazyk: English
Informácie o časopise: Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
Výrazy zo slovníka MeSH: Rural Population*/statistics & numerical data , Internet Access*/statistics & numerical data , Internet Use*/statistics & numerical data, British Columbia ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Surveys and Questionnaires/statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over
Abstrakt: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Aim: This study examined the experience of digital connectivity among rural-living British Columbians both with and without access to high-speed Internet at home.
Background: Evidence indicates that fewer rural communities have access to high-speed Internet compared to urban communities in Canada, despite government commitments to bring high-speed Internet to all British Columbians by 2027. Yet, differences within rural areas relative to those with access to high-speed compared to those with lower speeds remains a relatively unexplored area.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of rural British Columbians both with and without high-speed Internet was conducted between October 2023 and April 2024. Closed and open-ended questions gathered participants' thoughts and experiences with digital technology access and use.
Findings: Overall, 461 (M age = 56 years, 72% female) rural BC community members (47% with access to 50 + Mbps download speeds) completed the survey. Despite similar overall digital readiness, skill, and confidence using digital technology, those without high-speed Internet were older, more remote-living, reported using fewer connected devices alongside greater frustration with technology, yet had comparable frequency of Internet use except for less streaming compared to those with access to high-speed Internet. Similar themes were found among open-ended responses of both those with and without high-speed Internet access and surrounded: i) the actual and potential benefits of high-speed connectivity, and ii.) disconnects on many levels, but particularly between expectations for and reality of high-speed connectivity.
Conclusion: Regardless of broadband speed, there were greater similarities than there were differences across rural community participants, with common perceptions of the benefits of connectivity amid experiences with pervasive disconnections on a number of levels.
(Copyright: © 2025 Rush et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
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Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20250908 Date Completed: 20250920 Latest Revision: 20250920
Update Code: 20250920
PubMed Central ID: PMC12416681
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330347
PMID: 40920754
Databáza: MEDLINE
Popis
Abstrakt:Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.<br />Aim: This study examined the experience of digital connectivity among rural-living British Columbians both with and without access to high-speed Internet at home.<br />Background: Evidence indicates that fewer rural communities have access to high-speed Internet compared to urban communities in Canada, despite government commitments to bring high-speed Internet to all British Columbians by 2027. Yet, differences within rural areas relative to those with access to high-speed compared to those with lower speeds remains a relatively unexplored area.<br />Methods: A cross-sectional survey of rural British Columbians both with and without high-speed Internet was conducted between October 2023 and April 2024. Closed and open-ended questions gathered participants' thoughts and experiences with digital technology access and use.<br />Findings: Overall, 461 (M age = 56 years, 72% female) rural BC community members (47% with access to 50 + Mbps download speeds) completed the survey. Despite similar overall digital readiness, skill, and confidence using digital technology, those without high-speed Internet were older, more remote-living, reported using fewer connected devices alongside greater frustration with technology, yet had comparable frequency of Internet use except for less streaming compared to those with access to high-speed Internet. Similar themes were found among open-ended responses of both those with and without high-speed Internet access and surrounded: i) the actual and potential benefits of high-speed connectivity, and ii.) disconnects on many levels, but particularly between expectations for and reality of high-speed connectivity.<br />Conclusion: Regardless of broadband speed, there were greater similarities than there were differences across rural community participants, with common perceptions of the benefits of connectivity amid experiences with pervasive disconnections on a number of levels.<br /> (Copyright: © 2025 Rush et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
ISSN:1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0330347