West Virginians Surf the Web, but not as much as the Rest - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

West Virginians always scan those state rankings that come out during the year for everything from business climate to party schools.

Those scanners may not know where to look in one of the latest rankings. When it comes to computer and Internet use, the Mountain State has high numbers, but it still ranks near the bottom.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the breakdowns from its findings in the 2010 Census as they relate to computer and Internet use.

In West Virginia, according to the census, 72.1 percent of West Virginians live in households with Internet access, compared with 75.9 percent of the United States. Some of the highest numbers came from New Hampshire and Utah, with 86.2 percent and 85.5 percent, respectively.

And the Mountain State wasn't at rock bottom. In Mississippi and Arkansas, 64 percent of individuals reported living in homes with Internet access, and 67 percent of individuals in Alabama and Kentucky reported living in homes with Internet access.

But looking at those numbers from 2010 might give West Virginia an unfair disadvantage.

"First of all, Frontier bought Verizon's markets in July 2010, and since that time, Frontier has expanded its broadband service from approximately 62 percent in those acquired markets to more than 82 percent today," said Dan Page, spokesman for Frontier Communications. "That's more than 120,000 additional households that have access to broadband."

Page acknowledged that expanded service doesn't mean those households are customers, but they have the opportunity to acquire the service. He said since the Census data was reported, Frontier's commitment to build up broadband and make it available to no less than 85 percent of households in the territory the company acquired from Verizon, and Frontier is well on its way to exceeding that goal.

"In the past two years, Frontier has spent more than $200 million in West Virginia to get that done," Page said.

Page said the Fiber 7.0 Transport Network, a 2,600-mile fiber optic system that provides enhanced flexibility for customers has been strengthened to the point that Frontier has the most robust system in the country.

"It will support all kinds of initiatives and economic development activities," he said. "As you build the network out into the state, you have to have something to support the use."

Bill Gardner, director of information technology at Flaherty, Sensabaugh, Bonasso PLLC, said he was surprised West Virginia's numbers for computer and Internet use weren't lower.

According to the Census numbers, 81.4 percent of people in the U.S. live in households with a computer, and 21.2 percent of those are considered "handheld."

In West Virginia, 79.6 percent of residents reported living in households with computers and 18.9 percent of those had what they considered "handheld" computers. Among the states with the highest percentage of residents with computers were New Hampshire at 90.7 percent, Utah and Washington both at 89 percent, Alaska at 88 percent and Oregon at 87 percent.

And similar to West Virginia's numbers with Internet use, several states reported much lower percentages of residents with computers. In New Mexico, 71.1 percent of residents reported living in households with computers, 72.6 percent of residents in Arkansas and hovering around 74 percent were Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Gardner said technology is something that moves too fast for a two-year-old study to accurately track.

"All this stuff moves so quickly, you've got Internet service providers out there currently in the process of building out their infrastructure," he said. "Two years is a long time when you talk about those projects."

Gardner also questioned what the Census counted as computers and Internet use, since things such as an iPod Touch, a Nintendo DS gaming system and other items can be Internet capable.

"I'm painting this with a broad brush, but basically West Virginia has sort of always been an industrial-based state," Gardner said.

He pointed out that while high technology tools are used in careers such as coal mining, personal computers aren't usually dragged down into the mines or used with timbering or the steel industry.

"And the reason it costs so much to build roads here is the terrain," he said. "Internet service providers face the challenge of terrain -- even cable companies when they build their networks."

Gardner said he didn't see a lot of correlation in the states with high numbers such as Alaska and Tennessee, but agreed with Page that the state's numbers could only rise.

Page said multiple benefits come with being online.

"Entertainment opportunities for families, learning for children, finances for families, communicating with your neighbors and around the world and there are wonderful means of providing access for medical providers," Page said. "You can share information quickly and securely, and it opens a multitude of opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses in this state."

Page said his company knows it needs to help build the awareness of the value of Internet access, and it works with the state's Broadband Deployment Council to do that.