A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life project finds that two-thirds of Americans now have broadband in the home. It’s a continuing trend showing that more American homes and businesses are seeing the benefits of high-speed Internet adoption, even while more remains to be done.

Louisiana’s Daily Comet paper takes a look at how the new Pew study relates to their state’s own effort to expand broadband access and adoption to underserved rural and urban communities:

In a 2007 study from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the most recent available, only 43 percent of households in Louisiana had a broadband connection, and 37 percent of Louisiana residents did not use the Internet at all, the fifth-highest percentage in the country.

Particularly for those accustomed to a simpler, rural way of life, a lack of Internet and computer skills can be a barrier to everything from getting a job to doing research for school, said Daniel Lirette, who runs the adult-education program at Bayou Grace Community Services, a Chauvin-based group that serves families in need along Terrebonne's five bayous. He estimates that only about one in three families the group serves can get online at home.

Nationally, politicians have hailed increasing Internet access as a way to breach the “digital divide,” or the gap in computer use between whites and minorities. President Barack Obama's stimulus plan included $7.2 billion designated to bring broadband access to rural areas.

In March, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a longtime advocate of the technology, announced $80 million in stimulus money to help extend access to more than 100,000 homes in 21 north Louisiana parishes.

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