US General Accounting Office: US Digital Divide & Characteristics and Choices Of Internet Users.

The Department of Commerce has studied and reported on consumers’ use of the Internet, while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has monitored and reported on the deployment of broadband services. To respond to your concerns about the possible emergence of a digital divide as well as your ongoing interest in telecommunications issues, we surveyed Internet users to gain a deeper understanding of issues related to Internet usage—such as which Internet access methods Internet users thought were available to them, why users chose their providers, and how various applications (e.g., e-mail) and content (i.e., information sources or Web pages) available from their Internet service provider (ISP) or on the Internet were used. This information can aid understanding of how advanced telecommunications services are being deployed throughout the United States.

For a copy of the study CLICK below ( Adobe Acrobat required):

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01345.pdf