Rethinking the Information Highway is protected by copyright. No part of the report or other findings from the study may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from EKOS Research Associates Inc. Organizations that subscribed to the study are permitted to distribute the findings internally for their own internal uses.

For further information about the Rethinking the Information Highway study, please contact:

Malcolm Saravanamuttoo
Vice President, Technology
EKOS Research Associates
t: 613 235 7215
f: 613 235 8498
e: malcolm.saravanamuttoo@ekos.com

The research findings in this report are drawn from EKOS' Rethinking the Information Highway study. Launched more than four years ago, the study is one of the most comprehensive ongoing research initiatives designed to examine how the digital revolution is transforming the environment within which companies and governments are operating.

Given the scope of this study, the main findings are being reported in six separate volumes. This special report - A Rural/Urban Perspective of The Information Highway - focuses on what differences exist between rural and urban Canadians, and how this relates to attitudes and expectations. The report has also been designed to include the survey question at the bottom of the page in which the related results are presented.

The six main volumes of the broader study include:
• Volume 1:
  Convergence in Canada: Technology Uptake and Diversification
• Volume 2:
  Navigating the Internet
• Volume 3:
  The Evolution of the Electronic Marketplace
• Volume 4:
  Security, Privacy and the Internet
• Volume 5:
  Canadians, Technology and Government Service Delivery
• Volume 6:
  The Information Highway and Public Policy Issues

The research methodology involved a panel-based design, beginning with a survey of a random sample of 5,008 Canadians, aged 16 and over. Upon its completion, a second survey was mailed to approximately three out of four of the same individuals. A total of 2,006 self-administered surveys, or 58 per cent, were completed and returned to EKOS.

Interviewing in the first survey was undertaken during a six-week period finishing in early October 2000. Responses to the self-administered survey were collected over an eight-week period beginning in mid-October and ending in early December 2000.

The survey data from the first survey were statistically weighted by age, gender and region to ensure that the findings were representative of the Canadian population aged 16 and over. Statistical procedures for the self-administered survey also included weighting along Internet usage lines to ensure the sample was representative of the same population.

For the purposes of this report, the findings have been segmented on a rural and urban basis, and along city size. Rural Canada has been defined according to the postal code associated with the telephone number of an individual called. Postal codes with a zero in the second position are defined as rural (e.g., K0A 1S4). Other postal codes are defined as urban. Community size is based on the size given directly by respondents.

With sample sizes of 1,263 in the telephone survey and 549 in the self-administered survey, the rural results may be considered accurate within +/- 2.8 and 4.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. With sample sizes of 3,532 and 1,300, the urban results may be considered accurate within +/- 1.6 and 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Adoption of technology and Internet usage as well home access has risen significantly over recent years. While this has occurred in both rural and urban communities, the overall levels of uptake are remain slightly lower in rural Canada. On the other hand, rural/urban differences pale in comparison to many of those found along demographic lines. Nevertheless, rural Canadians demonstrate high levels of adoption and home penetration and, in many ways, are on the same growth trends as those in urban areas but simply lag a year or so behind.

• Broad attitudes towards technology and comfort with computers are driven more by whether an individual is online, rather than on whether they live in a rural or urban setting.
• For now, rural Canadians have lower levels of adoption for most technologies, although they are nearly equal in terms of wireless phone usage and have a much higher level of satellite use compared to urban Canadians.
• While those in rural areas are slightly less comfortable with computers, this largely reflects lower Internet usage (50 per cent vs. 63 per cent). Differences in comfort also reflect less experience online (with 56 per cent of rural users being online at least two years compared to 65 per cent of urban users).
• When it comes to the intensity of usage, rural users are again only slightly less likely to be online daily (48 per cent vs. 55 per cent in urban areas). On the other hand, rural users are equally likely to have gone online at home, but less likely to have done so either at work or school.
• Larger differences exist when it comes to the type of access, with only 14 per cent of rural households with broadband compared to 34 per cent in urban areas. These differences are even more pronounced across city size, rising from 7 per cent in the smallest communities to 37 per cent in the largest cities.
• In terms of the future, however, expectations are very similar with the same proportion of rural and urban Canadians expecting to get household access or to switch to broadband.

Table 3.1: Broad Attitudes Towards Learning to Use Technology (per cent)

Q: I am the kind of person that likes to figure out how to use computers and other types of electronic equipment on my own
{BASE: All Canadians; n=1974 Oct./Nov. 2000}

Broad attitudes/comfort are driven more by whether an individual is online, rather than on where they live …

While usage indicators reveal who uses what technology and to what end, it is equally important to understand broad attitudes and perceptions of technology. Not surprisingly, general attitudes and perceptions act as a barometer for understanding the current technology climate, and whether rural Canadians are any more or less inclined than those living in urban areas towards emerging technologies.

The study's broad findings continue to reinforce that the Internet and the information highway are rising in importance, both in rural and urban Canada and that attitudes/expectations tend to turn more positive with increased usage. When probed, it is clear that rural/urban differences exist on a number of broad indicators, although they are not always particularly pronounced. The same is true for differences along city size.

Going hand-in-hand with the rising importance of the information highway, a large segment of the Canadian population view themselves as technophiles - they enjoy working with information and communication technology as well as keeping abreast of the latest technologies. This is true in both rural and urban Canada. In fact, a majority (51 per cent) of rural Canadians agree that they like "to stay up to date on the latest technology", only a little behind the 59 per cent of those in urban areas.

When probed on how they interact with technology, almost six in ten also agree that they are the kind of person who likes to "figure out how to use computers and other types of electronic equipment on their own". Again, rural Canadians are only slightly less likely to hold this view (52 per cent vs. 58 per cent). There are some differences along city size lines, although they are relatively small. As shown in Table 3.1, however, much larger differences are observed between users and non-users. On the other hand, Internet users in rural Canada are as likely as those in urban areas to hold these views (both 70 per cent). Likewise, non-users in both essentially report equally lower levels of agreement (34 per cent and 36 per cent respectively). In other words, it is whether or not they are a user or not, and not where they live.

Table 3.2: Comfort with Computers (per cent)

Table 3.3: Broad Perceptions Towards the Impact of the Internet (per cent)

In large part, many of the differences in attitudes are explained by differences in comfort levels with computers. Not surprisingly, more and more Canadians are comfortable with computers, with 43 per cent reporting "high" comfort. From the study's broader findings, sharp differences are known to exist along demographic lines. As shown in Table 3.2, differences do exist between rural and urban Canadians, and across city size. While 46 per cent of urban Canadians report "high" comfort, only 34 per cent of those in rural areas report the same. Despite lower comfort, the overwhelming majority of those in rural areas still report moderate to high comfort (77 per cent).

As with attitudes, differences in comfort levels are instead much more pronounced between users and non-users. In other words, the impact of Internet usage on comfort with computers transcends rural/urban boundaries. There remain small differences in comfort between rural and urban users, although a healthy majority in both areas report high comfort (57 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively) and that the average level of comfort is only slightly different (5.6 vs. 5.8). An identical phenomenon is found with non-users, but in reverse.

The Internet's impact is perceived as having a positive impact on rural areas …

When probed on the whether or not the Internet will help Canadians living in small rural communities, the overwhelming majority agree that its impact will be positive. Overall, 73 per cent believe that this will be the case, with only 9 per cent disagreeing and 18 per cent remain neutral.

Again, views are more positive among users, reflecting that they no doubt have a better appreciation or awareness of how the Internet works. That being said, more than six in ten non-users still hold this positive view. As shown in Table 3.3, users in rural and urban Canada have essentially similar outlooks, as do non-users in both areas. While Canadians in larger cities are most likely to hold this view, those in smaller communities are more likely to remain neutral rather than taking a negative view.

Table 3.4: Technology Usage (per cent)

Q: In the past three months, have you used any of the following electronic or computer products and services, either at home or elsewhere?
{BASE: All Canadians; n=5008 Sept./Oct. 2000}

More rural Canadians are using newer technologies, although usage continues to lag behind urban areas …

Generally speaking, there continue to be notable differences in the levels of technology usage between rural and urban Canadians. With the exception of satellite television, rural Canadians (as well as those from smaller communities) are less likely than their urban counterparts to use a wide range of technologies. The only technology whereby no significant differences are found is with cellular/PCS phones [Table 3.4].

Despite the differences, usage of many of these technologies is up in both rural and urban Canada. For example, usage of wireless phones is up from 43 per cent in summer 1999 to 47 per cent in fall 2000 in rural Canada. Recent usage of satellite TV has gone from 25 per cent to 38 per cent over the same time period. In other words, there is substantial growth in usage on many fronts in rural Canada, and that, in many ways, those living in these areas are simply slightly behind in their uptake.

At the same time, rural/urban differences are far less pronounced than those found along demographic lines. For example, while there is a 9 percentage point difference in recent computer usage (59 per cent vs. 68 per cent), this pales in comparison to the 52 percentage point difference between those under 25 and seniors, or the 41 percentage point difference between lowest and highest income groups.

Not surprisingly, differences found between rural and urban users and non-users are again far less significant. Both have nearly identical usage numbers for personal computers, email, and cellular phones. On the other hand, there remain stronger differences with other technologies - pagers (18 per cent among rural users vs. 26 per cent among urban users), DVD players (19 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively), and PDA/palm pilots (11 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively). Usage levels are also much more closely aligned between rural and urban non-users.

Table 3.5: Recent Internet Usage (per cent)

Q: In the past three months, have you used the Internet, either at home or elsewhere?
{BASE: All Canadians}

Table 3.6: Location of Recent Internet Use (per cent)

Q: Where did you use the Internet in THE PAST THREE MONTHS?
{BASE: Internet users; n=3056 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Internet usage continues to increase in rural Canada, but remains slightly further behind activity in urban areas …

Somewhat surprisingly, the large growth in recent Internet usage observed in previous years did not materialize in 2000. Rather, growth in recent usage has been flat throughout the year - in fact, 60 per cent of Canadians reported going online at least once in the past three months in November, largely unchanged from the 59 per cent in January .

As shown in Table 3.5, there have been similar growth patterns in rural and urban Canada. While there continues to be a sizeable gap between the two (13 percentage points in September/October), there is some volatility with the difference being as low as 10 percentage points over the course of the broader study.

While rural users are equally likely to have gone online at home in the past three months, they report lower levels of work usage (38 per cent vs. 48 per cent in urban areas) [Table 3.6]. Again, however, growth is up in both areas, rising from 32 per cent in rural areas in June 1999 and from 42 per cent in urban areas over the same time frame. Usage at home and school is also influenced by city size, with lower levels being reported in the smallest communities.

Table 3.7: Length of Internet Use (per cent)

Q: How long have you been using the Internet?
{BASE: Internet users; n=3055 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Table 3.8: Frequency of Internet Use (per cent)

Q: How often do you use the Internet either at home or elsewhere for personal and work related activities in a typical month?
{BASE: Internet users; n=3056 Sept./Oct. 2000}

The fact that usage is up at home and in the workplace in both rural and urban Canada reinforces the notion that those in rural areas are on the same trend line, but simply at an earlier stage in growth. This is more evident by examining the length of time online. As shown in Table 3.7, it is clear that rural users have noticeably less online experience than urban users overall. While 65 per cent of urban users have been online for over two years, this drops to 56 per cent with rural users. These differences are even more pronounced when examining users by city size. Moving from least to most populated areas, there is an increase in the number of users online for more than two years from 55 per cent to 70 per cent.

Consistent with the study's broader findings, non-users tend to fall into two broad groups: "near" and "far" users. The latter neither see themselves going online nor have any interest. This divide is equally relevant when looking at rural/urban differences as non-users in both report virtually identical attitudes. For example, 49 per cent of rural non-users report "no interest in using the Internet", the same proportion of urban non-users. Likewise, only 46 per cent of rural non-users agree that they expect to go online, compared to 44 per cent of urban non-users.

Rural users are online slightly less frequently, although this reflects differences in experience …

There is a slight decrease in the frequency of Internet users with rural Canadians. While over half of urban users (55 per cent) make daily use of the Internet, this number drops to less than half with rural users (48 per cent). This difference can be found with city size as well in a slightly more pronounced form, with a steady increase from 42 per cent to 60 per cent daily usage moving from the least to most populated areas [Table 3.8].

It should be noted that these differences are not a factor of rural versus urban characteristics or even population size per se. Consistent with the study's broader findings, there is a steady increase in the frequency of Internet usage with the length of time online. Since rural users have a larger number of less experienced users, it is not surprising to find a correspondingly lower level of daily users.

Table 3.9: Hours Online in Past Week (per cent)

Q: How many hours did you spend LAST WEEK using the Internet …?
{BASE: Internet users; n=1376 Sept./Oct. 2000}

† Average of respondents reporting at least one hour.
* Differences are not statistically significant from overall average.
** Differences are statistically significant from overall average only at 10 per cent level.

While urban users are more likely to report time online at work and school, differences in hours online are small …

Consistent with the findings that larger differences exist between those online and those not online, there are relatively few differences in the average time spent online across rural/urban and city size lines [Table 3.9].

Overall, the difference in the number of rural and urban users who have used the Internet at home in the past week is not significant (69 per cent vs. 71 per cent, respectively). Likewise, there is no statistically significant difference in the average number of hours spent online at home in the past week (9.3 vs. 9.5 hours, respectively).

While weekly participation in home usage is very similar between rural and urban users, the same cannot be said with respect to usage at work or at school. Only 30 per cent of rural users report using the Internet at work in the past week, compared to 41 per cent of urban users. Once online, however, the differences in time spent online are not significant.

Rural users are also slightly less likely to have used the Internet at school in the past week. While 15 per cent of urban users report school usage, only 9 per cent of rural users report the same. Differences in average time online are also relatively small.

Table 3.10: Internet Access (per cent)

Q: Do you currently have access to the Internet, either at home, work or elsewhere?
{BASE: All Canadians; n=5008 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Table 3.11: Type of Home Access (per cent)

Q: What type of Internet access is there in your household?
{BASE: Households with Internet access; n=2507 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Consistent with lower usage patterns, rural Canadians are less likely to have home access …

Similar to differences found with recent and weekly usage, rural Canadians are less likely than their urban counterparts to have either access to the Internet from either home or elsewhere. Overall, only 68 per cent of rural Canadians report having access to the Internet somewhere compared to 76 per cent of those living in urban areas [Table 3.10].

When it comes to home access, a little over one in two (54 per cent) of urban Canadians report being wired. This compares to only 43 per cent of their rural counterparts. In both cases, however, this represents an increase from last year, rising from 47 per cent in urban areas in June 1999 and from 35 per cent in rural areas. The difference in work access is not as pronounced (30 per cent of rural Canadians vs. 40 per cent of urban Canadians). The differences along city size are more pronounced, both with home and work access. While 44 per cent of those in the smallest communities report home access, this rises sharply to 62 per cent in cities with a population of at least 500,000. Work access also rises sharply from 28 per cent to 47 per cent respectively.

On the other hand, difference in the levels of access, whether at home or elsewhere, more or less vanish when rural and urban Canadians are broken out into Internet users and non-users. With the exception of access at work, rural and urban users have virtually identical access levels. The same phenomenon can be found with rural and urban non-users.

In the past few years, there has been a sizable movement in the adoption of broadband access. This movement has not occurred equally, and some of the largest differences can be found between rural and urban households [Table 3.11]. Overall, rural households are much less likely than urban ones to have either a cable modem or DSL based Internet access, reflecting in part, limited service in these areas. While one third of urban households have moved to broadband (34 per cent), only 14 per cent of rural households have done likewise. These differences are even more pronounced across city size, rising from 7 per cent in the smallest communities to 37 per cent with broadband in the largest cities.

Table 3.12: Future Expectations Re Internet Access (per cent indicating yes)

Table 3.13: Likelihood of Upgrading to Broadband (per cent)

Future expectations are similar …

In terms of looking to the future, rural and urban Canadians report similar expectations in getting Internet access from home and switching to broadband access among those already with access.

In fact, when both were probed on the reasons for not having home access, the responses were virtually identical, with the two most common reasons being lack of need/no interest (about four in ten) and cost related issues (also about four in ten). As shown in Table 3.12, one in three Canadians currently without access expect to get wired within a year, with virtually no differences along rural/urban and city size lines.

Despite large differences in broadband access, expectations to upgrade from a dial-up connection are also relatively evenly distributed across both rural/urban lines and city size (albeit that those from the smallest communities are less likely to expect to upgrade although this may be more reflective of limited availability). As such, there is a decrease in expectations among rural households currently with access - 51 per cent are at least moderately likely compared to 60 per cent for urban households [Table 3.13].

The impact of technology on the distance between communities is thought to have a shortening effect, reducing many of the barriers that arise from being located away from places. In many ways, the Internet and the information highway have the potential to reduce these barriers, giving those in rural Canada access to many of the same marketplaces or to government programs and services or the ability to contact friends and family around the world with as much ease as those in large cities. While this study was not designed to answer the question per se, there are signs that even in the early stages in the development of the information highway that rural users report similar activities to those in urban areas, as well as the extent to which the medium has penetrated various aspects of their day-to-day lives.

• Rural Canadians are no more or less likely to have contact with the federal government, nor is there any difference in the frequency of such contact between rural and urban subgroups. Internet usage, however, has an equally positive influence on both the level and frequency of contact for both rural and urban Canadians.
• Although overall rural and urban Canadians differ in the method of contact, rural and urban users display similar methods of contact as well as preferences towards various service channels.
• Rural and urban users also demonstrate very similar levels of both online comparison shopping and online purchases. Overall, 27 per cent of rural users have bought something online at some point compared to 32 per cent of urban users, reflecting, in part, slightly less online experience.
• Internet usage also has a positive impact on various other activities, such as searching for different types of information, as well as telephone and Internet banking.

Table 4.1: Level and Frequency of Contact with Federal Government (per cent)

Q: Including in-person, mail, telephone contact and by e-mail/Internet, how many times have you had contact with the federal government (for a service or information) for personal, rather than work related reasons over the last three months?
{BASE: All Canadians; n=5008 Sept./Oct. 2000}
May not add up to a hundred given respondents who did not know or gave no response (DK/NR).

Table 4.2: Method of Contact with Federal Government (per cent)

Q: Thinking now of your most recent contact with the federal government, what was the method of contact?
{BASE: Canadians who had contact with federal government in past 3 months; n=1672 Sept./Oct. 2000}
May not add up to a hundred given respondents who did not know or gave no response (DK/NR).

The level and frequency of contact does not differ across rural/urban lines, but with users and non-users …

There are virtually no differences in terms of either the level of contact with the federal government or the frequency of contact along rural/urban and city size line. Overall, about one in three report having had contact in the past three months, with one in five with multiple contacts. In fact, only those in the largest centres are slightly more likely to report some contact [Table 4.1].

There are, however, some notable differences between users and non-users for both rural and urban subgroups. Rural and urban users report virtually identical patterns, and are both significantly more likely that their non-user counterparts to have had contact and more likely to have had multiple contacts. While 37 per cent and 36 per cent of rural and urban users have had contact, it is only 24 per cent and 29 per cent of non-users in rural and urban Canada.

Rural non-users are most likely to have had recent contact through the mail …

Aside from a slightly higher level of mail contact, rural Canadians have virtually identical levels in the method of contact with the federal government when compared to their urban counterparts [Table 4.2].

Interestingly, rural and urban users demonstrate nearly identical levels of telephone, mail, Internet and in-person contact. However, there are some strong differences between rural and urban non-users. Rural non-users are much less likely to use telephone contact compared to urban non-users (59 versus 71 per cent, respectively). Instead, rural non-users tend to rely more heavily on mail than urban non-users (28 versus 17 per cent, respectively). One possible explanation of this result may be the fact that long distance charges may be incurred when rural Canadians need to contact some government offices in relation to programs that do not have a toll free number associated with them.

Table 4.3: Preferred Method of Contact with Federal Government (per cent)

Q: If you were to contact the federal government to apply for a program, what would be your preferred method of doing so?
{BASE: All Canadians; n=1009 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Few differences also exist in relation to preferred methods of contacting the federal government …

The way in which citizens came into contact with governments may not necessarily reflect the way in which they would want to. As such, the study probed on preferred methods of contact for conducting a number of different transactions with the federal government. Reflecting many of the same patterns, the telephone continues to be the preferred service channel in both urban and rural areas .

A similar phenomenon is found with the preferred method of contact. Once again, rural and urban users demonstrate very similar trends, as the levels of preference for each type of contact is nearly identical between these subgroups. Unlike actual method of contact, however, rural and urban non-users also reveal very similar preferences, although fewer rural non-users prefer in-person contact (11 per cent vs. 17 per cent) [Table 4.3].

Table 4.4: Telephone and Internet Banking (per cent)

Q: Do you do any of your personal banking either using the Internet or the telephone?
{BASE: All Canadians; n=5008 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Table 4.5: E-commerce (per cent of Internet users)

Q: Have you ever purchased a product or service online?
{BASE: Internet users; n=3054 Sept./Oct. 2000}

How often do you use the Internet for comparison shopping on a product or service you are considering buying?
{BASE: Internet users; n=3054 Sept./Oct. 2000}

Few differences between rural and urban Canadians with respect to Internet and telephone banking …

Overall, there is only slightly lower level of either telephone and/or Internet banking along rural/urban lines, although they are slightly more pronounced along city size lines. While 43 per cent of those in urban areas report either telephone, Internet banking or both, this number drops slightly to 38 per cent of rural Canadians. Similarly, there is a slightly lower incidence of either method of personal banking with decreasing city size. Again, users in both urban and rural areas report similar patterns, with close to one in two using either service channel. Likewise, a similar proportion of rural and urban non-users report using neither - about three in four [Table 4.5].

As discussed in more detail in Volume 3, while some differences exist between rural and urban areas when it comes to their usage of bank machines, debit and credit cards, and in-person banking, patterns in relation to telephone and Internet banking are virtually identical. This is again an example of technology removing distance from the equation.

Levels of Internet shopping activities are also very similar between rural and urban users …

In part reflecting some of the differences in online experience, rural users are slightly less likely to have bought something online than urban users (27 per cent vs. 32 per cent). On the other hand, rural and urban users have a nearly identical level of online comparison shopping. A slim majority of both rural users (52 per cent) and urban users (54 per cent) comparison shop online at least occasionally [Table 4.6].

Table 4.7(a): Participation in Various Search Activities (per cent)

Q: In the past 12 months, have you participated in any of the following activities? Searched for …
{BASE: All Canadians; n=1995 Oct./Nov. 2000}

Table 4.7(b): Use of the Internet for these Activities (per cent of Internet users)

Q: If yes, did you use the Internet to do any part of the activity?
{BASE: Those Internet users who participated in a particular activity; Oct./Nov. 2000}

* Differences are not statistically significant from overall average.

While rural Canadians search less often for certain information, many use the Internet to the same tent …

The study also probed on a number of activities relating to different types of information individuals have searched for, and the extent to which they used the Internet in part of that search.

Generally speaking, rural Canadians and those living in smaller communities tend to be less likely to have looked for many of the types of information that the study probed. The same is true between users and non-users, regardless of where they live, although the differences are even more pronounced [Table 4.7(a)].

Further evidence that the Internet is taking some of the distance out of the equation, rural users tend to rely on online sources while searching for this information almost to the same extent as urban users. For example, when it came to looking for information on government programs and services, rural and urban users are as likely to have used the Internet in their search [Table 4.7(b)].

It is evident that rural Canadians continue to report lower usage of many technologies (with the exception of cellular/PCS phones and satellite television) compared to their urban counterparts. On the other hand, the differences are small when compared to those along demographic lines. While rural/urban differences have been slow to disappear, overall usage continues to rise in both areas.

While adoption rates remain lower in rural Canada, it is important to remember that one in two has still gone online recently and almost half of rural users do so daily. In fact, those already online in rural Canada have far more in common in relation to usage, attitudes and expectations in the area of e-government and e-commerce with users in urban areas, than they do with non-users in rural Canada. In many ways, rural Canadians are on the same trend line, but simply at an earlier stage in growth. In part, the earlier stage reflects less experience online as well as lower usage at work. There is a strong relationship between exposure to the Internet at work and adoption and home penetration. Rural users are also less likely to have broadband access. There are several factors at work here, including a lack of availability, although this is not the only factor. For example, increased online experience positively affects broadband adoption, and rural users remain less experienced.

When it comes to the impact of the Internet and the information highway, there is little doubt the extent to which it is having an enormous impact on so many aspects of individuals' day-to-day lives. If it is true that instantaneous communications bring the world close together, the spread of Internet usage and even wireless phone service in rural Canada has greatly reduced the isolation of those communities. While the study was not designed to provide a definitive answer to this question (and it is also too early in the development of the information highway to get a full answer), there is some evidence to that effect. Perhaps one of the more telling findings is with respect to the high degree of similarity between Internet users, whether rural or urban. Both rely on the Internet to a similar degree in relation to personal finances and the broader marketplace, as well as broader usages of finding various types of information. As the reach of the Internet and the information highway continues to expand, it will be important to understand the social impacts in this area.

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