Rural B.C. residents still struggle with high-speed internet access, study finds (BC)
If you’ve spent minutes on end watching the “buffering” symbol spin endless circles when trying to stream video content or use high-speed internet, you’re not alone — especially if you live in rural B.C. A new study from UBC Okanagan researchers Cherisse Seaton and Kathy Rush found that despite a growing pressure to have quality internet access, many rural B.C. residents lack access to high-speed internet. The topic hits close to home for both researchers, who work in the UBC Okanagan School of Nursing. Having grown up in rural New Brunswick, Rush studies health equity in rural populations while working as a professor. Likewise, Seaton lived outside of Prince George using dial-up internet for several years, and studies population health in her capacity as a research coordinator at the school. There are many reasons rural residents are more vulnerable to internet access issues than urban residents, ranging from frequent power outages to simply lacking the infrastructure for high-speed internet, Seaton and Rush say. “They’ve got a mismatch between what they need to live their lives in their rural communities and what resources they have to really meet that need,” Rush said. Aside from well-known disparities between urban and rural communities, Seaton and Rush found differences between and within rural areas, as well. People who are older, live in more remote areas, and have fewer devices are among the most likely to lack high-speed internet — even though they tend to use the internet just as often as other rural residents, the study says. “We always think of rural [areas] falling short over urban, which they do indeed. But increasingly in our work, we see a lot of intra-rural variation. I heard from quite a few participants who were in a location where the larger community had access to high speed [internet], but their specific household community did not,” Seaton said. The researchers found that while rural residents may be more vulnerable to internet connectivity issues, they also tend to be resourceful, filling in the gaps where they can. For example, Rush said some people avoid using the internet during times of the day where internet traffic is high, or pay for multiple internet subscriptions so they have a backup option when one goes down. Still, in an age where digital access is a prerequisite for many activities — such as paying utility bills, speaking to a doctor from home, or even accessing a restaurant’s menu — residents may find it frustrating that they have to make compromises to improve their internet connectivity. “Participants described this growing expectation for all citizens to be well-connected. Yet for many — those with and without high-speed internet — that wasn’t a reality,” Seaton said. That pressure to be constantly online is pervasive even among tech-savvy people, Seaton and Rush say. And despite a pervasive assumption that rural residents are uninterested in internet access, or not technologically capable enough to use the internet, their research suggests rural residents of all backgrounds have the same needs and uses for the internet as everyone else. “Stereotypes of rural citizens as [being] left behind, less technologically developed and skilled are really unwarranted. Our work helps to show that, I think,” Seaton said. “In some of our analysis, we tried to look for whether there were gender differences or age differences [in technology use] and we really couldn’t find a consistent pattern that linked age to lower use or anything like that.” Aside from access to crucial services like telehealth, rural residents also rely on the internet to connect with people within and outside their community, the pair say. In particular, Facebook groups can allow communities to stay informed on news, weather, road conditions and bear sightings. As the internet becomes increasingly important in people’s lives, Seaton and Rush hope to highlight disparities between people with high-speed internet access versus those without it. “There is concern in many places that digital seems to have become the default. Our participants did really highlight growing concern with the lack of backup options, the lack of shrinking public spaces for digital engagement,” Seaton said. “No citizen should be excluded from social services like health care because of lack of digital access.”