Utah Voters: Expand High-Speed Internet Access

More than four in 10 (45%) Utah voters who live in rural areas say that access to high-speed internet is a problem in their local community, compared to just 37% of nonrural voters.

The types of home internet connections reported by rural internet users contrast sharply with the types of connections reported by nonrural users. While 61% of nonrural home internet users have a cable or fiber-optic internet connection, just 38% of rural home internet users claim the same. Rural home internet users are more likely than nonrural users to rely on satellite (15% rural vs. 4% nonrural) or fixed wireless (9% vs. 5%), or to say that cellular service is their only method of accessing the internet at home (7% vs. 3%).

Overall, close to eight in 10 (79%) home internet users say that they do not have a fiber-optic home internet connection, which is generally the fastest type of internet service. When asked to indicate their major reasons for not having fiber, almost half (47%) cite lack of availability. Rural internet users without fiber at home are more likely than their nonrural counterparts to cite lack of availability (67% vs 43%).

Home internet users living in rural areas (45%) are also more likely than those who live in nonrural areas (36%) to say that bad weather causes problems with their internet service, which may be a reflection of rural users’ greater reliance on connection types that can be susceptible to weather-related interference such as satellite and fixed wireless.

Methodology

The AARP telephone survey was conducted among 1,388 registered voters ages 50-plus in Utah. Forty percent of the interviews were completed on a mobile phone. The survey was administered by Alan Newman Research between August 16, 2021 and August 30, 2021.

For more information, contact S. Kathi Brown of AARP Research at skbrown@aarp.org. Media inquiries should be directed to Alan Ormsby in the AARP Utah State Office at aormsby@aarp.org.