Projo Biz Blog

By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer

Nearly three out of four Rhode Islanders have access to the Internet at home, according to a recently released survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The survey estimates that 73 percent of Rhode Island residents live in a household with Internet access. That ranks the state ahead of the national average of 67.1 percent and places Rhode Island in 11th place in the country, but it still lags behind all but one other state in New England.

The percentage was lower for the number of Rhode Island residents who actually use the Internet, according to the study conducted in 2007. The Census Bureau found that 64.9 percent of Rhode Islanders used the Internet either at home or somewhere else, a rate just ahead of the national average of 62.4 percent but still last among the six New England states.

Ruby Roy Dholakia, professor of marketing at the University of Rhode Island's College of Business Administration, said Rhode Island may place high in access to the Internet because of the state's small size. Rhode Island has broadband and fiber-optic infrastructure that larger, more rural states to the west do not.

"Rhode Island is a very compact state," said Dholakia, who is writing a book about how America is being transformed by technology. "If you look at a place like Wyoming, building the infrastructure is much more difficult. The infrastructure is easier in Rhode Island."

She compared the relative ease of expanding infrastructure in the Ocean State with certain small countries where access to the Internet is extremely high.

 Tags  Internet access Ruby Roy Dholakia

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