(Mis)perceptions of Broadband Services in Mendocino County & How They Inform Education

Broadband Internet services are not widely available in rural areas such as Mendocino County in California. Why not? One answer is that, due to the spare populations in these areas, it is expensive to deploy traditional network technologies such as fiber. As a result, there is often only a single incumbent Internet service provider serving these areas, stifling competition and driving up prices. Recently, however, organizations such as Further Reach have started to offer competitive Internet services, helping to lower prices for subscribers. Another possibility might be that the people of Mendocino have concerns about the prospect of pervasive broadband services. It is this possibility that we seek to investigate. Do some residents harbor concerns about broadband, or even oppose it? Do some residents not believe that broadband would be beneficial for their lives? If so, what are their concerns, and how common are these concerns? To answer these questions, in this project we conduct a qualitative research study on perceptions of broadband services in Mendocino county. The first and main part of this paper (sections §2, §3 & §4) summarizes our findings from nine interviews with Mendocino residents. As technologists, we generally believe that access to broadband Internet is a valuable good. If some residents wish to know more about broadband Internet technologies, or harbor concerns that might be easily addressed through education, we would like to address them if possible. The second part of this paper (starting at §5) summarizes our efforts to develop educational materials with this goal in mind. We designed these materials based on an analysis of our interview materials: for each category of easily addressable concerns voiced about broadband Internet, we gathered factual information and presented them in an easy-to-understand format. Throughout this process, we learned a great deal! We end the paper (section §7) by summarizing these lessons.