Research & Surveys

In this section, you will find information regarding surveys that Connect Arkansas has conducted or has commissioned an organization to conduct. As we continue to survey and research Arkansan attitudes about broadband access and deployment, the information will be posted.

Survey information included on this page may not be reproduced without permission from Connect Arkansas. For more information, contact Connect Arkansas at 501.374.9247.

March 19, 2012: Connect Arkansas release statewide Community Anchor Institution research
This White Paper has been produced by Connect Arkansas to highlight the current status of broadband availability to a number of Community Anchor Institutions (CAI) – Public Schools, Law Enforcement Agencies, Hospitals and Clinics, and Fire Stations. Connect has compared pre-existing broadband coverage information from the Internet Service Providers (ISP) developed through its National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) grant program and CAI information obtained from the Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO). With the data gleaned from this comparison, we hope to show a statewide picture of high-speed Internet access availability for most CAI locations.

Download the CAI Whitepaper to continue reading.

March 21, 2011: Connect Arkansas releases statewide broadband survey results
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Twenty-four percent of Arkansans have subscribed to high-speed internet in the last year, and 92% of Arkansans feel that the internet is a valuable source for information and learning, according to the most recent Connect Arkansas survey findings released Friday.

“Truly remarkable advancements in the value of the Internet for education, opportunity for success and life-changing capabilities are becoming available on a daily basis,” Connect Arkansas President C. Sam Walls said. “Especially for our children, for the first time in human history, they have the world at their fingertips.”

Connect Arkansas was founded in 2007 to foster broadband education, use and access throughout the state, and in doing so, to help improve the personal lives and economic prospects of all Arkansans. That year, Connect conducted a survey of 608 registered voters and found that only 42 percent of Arkansans said they had high-speed internet access in their home or workplace. The latest survey found that 68 percent of Arkansans now have high-speed internet access in their home or workplace.

By comparison, a survey completed last summer by the Federal Communications Commission showed that 67 percent of Americans nationwide have access to high-speed internet in their home or workplace.

The results, Walls said, shows that the state has made progress toward better connectivity in the past four years, and that while Connect is helping, “move the needle in the right direction,” the overall results show that Arkansas still has a long way to go toward full connectivity.

“It is important we realize we are in a race to compete with the world in using this tool wisely and to our greatest advantage,” Walls said. “This is a race Arkansas cannot afford to lose.”

Among other findings, the survey data indicates that:
• 56 percent of Arkansans view high-speed internet as a luxury in relation to other utilities;
• 55 percent of Arkansans, who are not current subscribers to high-speed internet, when asked why they do not subscribe to high-speed internet, responded they “do not need it;”
• 30 percent of Arkansans use their cell phones or other mobile devices to access the Internet;
• for 14 percent of Arkansans, a mobile device is their only means of Internet access.

“This study shows that Arkansas has made significant progress since 2007 in high-speed internet adoption,” Walls said. “In order to maintain this growth, however, Arkansans must embrace the idea that high-speed internet is a necessity to compete in the 21st Century economy.”

Connect Arkansas will launch this spring several new initiatives aimed at showing Arkansans how high-speed internet is relevant to their lives, including the Computers for Kids program in partnership with the Little Rock School District, and has already launched YES for Arkansas 2.0, a high school business plan competition which aims to drive entrepreneurship. Additionally, Connect will announce several major initiatives in the near future.  ###

Download a copy of the Statewide Survey Executive Summary - March 2011