As Internet connections become increasingly mobile, broadband Internet at home is no longer a sufficient measurement for access. The Pew Research also found a disparity between higher and lower-level income brackets and cellphone ownership: 95% of those earning above $75,000 have a cellphone as opposed to 83% of those earning less money.

Internet users at the higher income levels are more likely to go online multiple times per day, both at home and at work. 86% of those at higher income levels reported being online more than once a day, as opposed to just 54% of those at lower income levels.

The research also found that different income levels use the Internet in different ways, with what Pew calls different "intensity of use." Those at higher income levels are checking email (93% of them do so), accessing news online (80%), paying bills (71%), and research products (88%). In comparison, only 34% of those at the lowest income brackets get their news online.

As Internet access becomes increasingly crucial for all manner of personal, professional, and civic engagement, this digital divide between income levels will become important.

And even when controlling for socio-economic factors, some of these gaps persist, with minorities and rural residents less likely to have high-speed Internet than their urban and white counterparts.

63.5% of U.S. households now have broadband subscriptions, according to the Commerce Department report, compiled from a Census survey of 54,000 households in October 2009.

But households with less than $25,000 had an adoption rate of 35.8% - although it's notable that this is still a twelvefold increase from 2001. And in households where the head had less than a high school diploma, the broadband adoption rate was only 28.8%. At the other extreme, 94.1% of households with more than $100,000 income had broadband, as did 84.5% of those with college degrees.

77.3% of Asian-American households and 68% of non-Hispanic white households subscribed to broadband last year, compared to only 49.4% of African-American households and 47.9% of Hispanic households. And 65.9% of urban households had high-speed Internet, while only 51% of rural households did. Mississippi ranked last in terms of states' adoption rate, with only 42% of customers subscribing.

Other demographics with low adoption included those with disabilities (37.5%).

The reasons given most frequently for not having broadband at home were "Don't need it" (38%) and "Too expensive" (26%).

In response to the findings, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement today that "The digital divide is an opportunity divide - if you can't get online, you can't compete in the digital economy." Genachowski says closing these gaps will be one of the top priorities in the FCC's National Broadband Plan.

According to the report, "The wiring of public libraries has transformed one of the nation's most established community resources into a critical digital hub".

As Seth Godin pointed out last January, libraries "can't survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don't want to own" and that the "number one thing they deliver to their patrons is free DVD rentals."

Now, we can add "Internet access" to the top of the list, as "Internet access is now one of the most sought after public library services," according to the report.

The report notes that patrons use the Internet for a variety of tasks - from job searches to civic participation to finance to school kids doing their homework - but offers an interesting stat right off the bat: Of those people using the Internet at the library, "more than three-quarters of these people had Internet access at home, work, or elsewhere."

The library, it would seem, offers a respite from the coffee shop, a refuge from familial fights over the single home computer and an alternative to the dizzyingly slow dial-up Internet that so many still have to deal with. But what are they doing with this new found Internet provider?

Another telling number was that 60% of respondents said they use library computers to maintain "social connections," and we can't help but wonder if libraries are giving people a safe place to Facebook-lurk. That is, many places of employment and schools ban social networks - are libraries a way around that for workers and teens?

Overall though, the report does seem to show that libraries are a "technological lifeline to children and families in need", with 44% of people in households below the federal poverty line using public libraries for Internet access. And while we may make fun of Facebook occasionally, social networking can be a key tool in finding employment and networking. But beyond that, we can see that employment, education and health information are among the top use cases.

In the end, the report calls for continued support for a public system that seems to be the biggest bridge for the digital divide. It is certainly a shift in focus, but we hope that any hard feelings over digital taking away from the printed word don't get in the way of keeping public libraries funded.

As the report reads, "The findings signal this is a moment when federal, state, and local governments should invest more, not less, in the computing capacity of the nation's libraries to help advance a wide range of policy goals."

In parts of Africa, there simply is no mobile internet access available...but there is the ability to send SMS. Enter Mobile-XL. With their browser's graphical, easy-to-use interface, people with limited or no internet access finally have an entry point to vast resources of the web. The application, which works on Java-based phones with either GPRS or Bluetooth functionality, provides access to news, weather, flight status, package tracking, dictionary, thesaurus, translations, local 411, games, music, access to email, and more.

The XLBrowser doesn't have to be pre-installed on handsets in order for people to use it. If customers have a GPRS-enabled phone, they can text "XLB" to 3663 (for Kenya) or 7197 (for Uganda) or 3112 (for Tanzania). However, they will need a Bluetooth-activated PC or laptop to store the file that's downloaded from the link. The file then needs to be transferred to the handset using Bluetooth. For obvious reasons, having phones which are already equipped with the browser will give more people access to the mobile web, especially in places where PCs and laptops are hard to come by.

Says Guy Kamgaing-Kouam, CEO of Mobile-XL, "we're taking a gigantic step toward realizing our mission of bridging the digital divide." His company has been working since 2005 to develop a simple and affordable technology that could bring internet services to the underserved markets of the world.

The new partnership agreement between Nokia and Mobile-XL will deliver the XLBrowser in phones initially shipped to Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as early as March 2009.

Can yet another organization really make a difference? Some observers seem to be suffering from Organization Fatigue, but we're interested to see what Berners Lee can do. A group dedicated to deep study of the web and the obstacles to its growth sounds like a great idea to us. Not everyone agrees.

The Foundation launched with a three part plan, including:

• Web Science and Research

Studying the web "as an interconnected complex system (that combines disciplines of science, biomedical science, social science, and computer science, for example)" and creating curriculum for other Web Scientists to be trained with around the world.
• Web Technology and Practice

Advancing standards.
• Web for Society

"To learn from people in socially or economically deprived communities how the Web can better serve them." (Nice that it's phrased this way.) Creating programs to extend access around the world.

Concerns

We are a little concerned about a conversation Berners Lee had with the BBC prior to unveiling the Foundation where he argued that there needs to be some way to brand trustworthy websites as trustworthy. That strikes us as either silly or frightening, possibly both.

Web standards guru and blogger Molly Holzschlag sums up what is probably a common feeling of ambivalence about the new Foundation.

I would love to feel optimistic about this, but at this point I've really decided that creating more groups is just adding layers of problems on top of what we're already doing.

On the other hand, if this empowers greater outreach, education and fosters real influence in returning to the core ideals of an interoperable Web for all, then I'm all for it.

Eran Hammer-Lahav, Open Web Evangelist at Yahoo! and party to the founding of another group, the Open Web Foundation, has sharper words for Berners Lee's group.

Seems odd to ask for money, and a lot of
it, with so little detail as to what this organization is about?...We've been asked many times why a new org, and I think it is fair to ask it back. Seems to me that most of this should/could be done within the W3C. If the W3C is no longer able to promote its own mission, it raises the question: should the same leadership be trusted to run a new effort that seems to try and fix what their first effort failed to accomplish?

We are sympathetic to both opinions here. The problems being engaged with are thorny enough that we applaud anyone for trying tackle them - and the inventor of the web certainly brings credentials to the effort. Also, it's not our $5 million so we're not going to lose too much sleep even if the effort goes no where.

What do you think? Does the World Wide Web Foundation website give you hope that the organization will be effective? If these topics are of interest to you, see also the Digital Divide Network.