2012 Minnesota Internet Survey - Digital Divide 2.0 and beyond

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret

2012 Minnesota Internet Survey examines how broadband adoption and the digital divide have evolved in rural Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area. After more than ten years of surveying residents’ access to high-speed Internet, the report finds broadband has become a necessity, infrastructure is widespread, and remaining gaps increasingly relate to bandwidth and other non-availability barriers. It also documents generational shifts, growing off-home access, rising social media/VOIP/streaming use, and a methodology based on landline and cellular RDD interviews of 1,652 adults.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

History of the study

Major findings

Methodology

Adoption rates

A PDF of this report can be downloaded from the Center’s website [at www.ruralmn.org](at www.ruralmn.org). © 2012 Center for Rural Policy and Development 2012 Minnesota Internet Survey Digital Divide 2.0 and beyond After more than ten years of asking rural Minnesotans about their access to high-speed Internet service, it is possible to draw a few conclusions: 1. It is fairly well accepted now that broadband access has become a necessity for functioning at full capacity in today’s world. In other words, Internet access and broadband access are no longer considered a luxury but rather a necessity by most people. 2. The digital divide isn’t what it used to be. The divide can be characterized as the haves and have-nots, those who have broadband and those who do not. In the early days of broadband, the main barrier to being a “have”was availability of the service itself. Now that infrastructure is nearly ubiquitous, at least in Minnesota, the other barriers, which have always been there, are becoming more apparent, particularly in the area of bandwidth. 3. Broadband no longer ties the user to a fixed location (i.e., the home) . In just the past few years, technology has been introduced that makes it possible for people to access the Internet from just about anywhere. This trend is important not only to people who use the Internet and do business on it, but to those who provide access and create policy affecting it. 4. The preceding points tie into what appears to be a generational change in how people access, use, and think of the Internet. This study was completed with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, Networks United for Rural Voice, the Blandin Foundation, and the McKnight Foundation. Thanks also to the City of Minneapolis for their collaboration. The Center for Rural Policy and Development, based in St. Peter, Minn., is a private, not-for-profit policy research organization dedicated to benefiting Minnesota by providing its policy makers with an unbiased evaluation of issues from a rural perspective. Figure 1: Adoption rates of computers, Internet service, and broadband in the Twin Cities metro area and the rest of Minnesota since 2001. History of the study The Center included questions on broadband adoption in its first rural Minnesota survey in 2001. The next year, the survey focused solely on broadband and the Internet. In 2005, the sevencounty Twin Cities metropolitan area was included for the first time to provide a comparison to rural counties. And in 2012, interviewers called cell phone numbers for the first time, recognizing the number of households that have given up landline phones and now use cell phones as their only phone. Major findings • Adoption rates for computers, Internet access, and broadband continue to go up but ata slower rate in both the rural counties and the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities is still several percentage points ahead of the rest of the state in terms of adoption: 79.2% for the Twin Cities vs. 70. 6% for rural Minnesota. • Over one quarter of Minnesota households (27%) use cellphones only, no landlines. The rate for rural Minnesota 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Rural Computer Internet Broadband Twin Cities Computer Internet Broadband is similar to that of the Twin Cities. • The use of social media, voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP, online phone calls), and streaming video are up dramatically in the last two years. • While the home computer is still by far the most common means of accessing the Internet for Minnesota households, the number of people accessing the Internet outside their homes continues to grow, as does the number and variety of devices they are using to access it. • There are a number of reasons people do not purchase broadband for their homes, but the primary ones are lack of interest and cost. Methodology As in past studies, the state was divided into two regions, the seven-co

FAQs

What conclusions does the survey draw about broadband access in Minnesota?

Broadband access is described as a necessity rather than a luxury. The report also notes that the digital divide has shifted from simple service availability toward other barriers, especially around bandwidth.

How does broadband adoption differ between the Twin Cities and rural Minnesota?

The Twin Cities remain ahead in adoption rates, with 2012 broadband adoption reported as 79.2% for the Twin Cities versus 70.6% for rural Minnesota.

How was the 2012 survey conducted and what sample size was used?

The study used a combination of landline and cellular random digit dial sampling. A total of 1,652 Minnesota adults were interviewed, with reported margins of error based on statewide and regional samples.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret