More consumers are becoming concerned about the security of their data, especially personal information that is exchanged with businesses. The percentage of consumers who believe that they’ve lost the ability to control how their data is collected and used has been in the 80th percentile since 1999, according to Deloitte Insights. That figure spiked as high as 90 percent in 2014.
Topics: data, internet, security, personal information
5G recently launched in select cities with download speeds of up to one gigabyte. The technology promises to reduce delays and increase speeds, but concerns remain about whether it will be able to close the broadband gap between urban and rural areas. Questions about whether rural communities will be ready for the new wireless standard mean residents may experience 5G speed much later.
Topics: data, smartphone, rural, 5G
Rural communities maintain active subscriptions to cable television at a rate of 28 percent, according to a SmartBrief article by Kelly Mertesdorf. The reasons why cable subscribers decide to cut the cord can include frustration with the cable provider, but the cost and price increases are the number one driver. With a multitude of non-live and live TV streaming options, the challenges for rural communities in embracing this trend are affordability and access to high-speed internet.
On Monday, April 2nd, Governor John Hickenlooper signed a law to expand broadband internet service within rural Colorado. The law is designed to allocate $100 million dollars towards construction of infrastructure, which will increase internet download speed capacities to a minimum of 10 megabits per-second. Broadband service has long been considered a standard for both household and professional internet users, but the availability has been lacking in rural communities such as northeastern Colorado. The expansion of broadband capacity will help bring the same advantages the state’s urban dwellers enjoy to those who live and work in rural Colorado communities.