Adam and Anita Paulk had a nice home outside Temple, Texas, with a big yard and a 10-minute commute to his job. But in Internet terms, the house was on Slow Lane. There was no high-speed Internet connection available.
So the Paulks pulled up stakes in 2005 and built a home in a new subdivision. It was a little further from his job, but at least it could get broadband.
“It was worth it, not to hear my husband bitch about the connection anymore,” Anita Paulk said.
In less than a decade, broadband has gone from a luxury to a must for many people, and for some of them, it’s started to influence their real-estate decisions. Homes that have broadband are winning out over more remote ones that don’t. Areas with better and faster broadband are becoming more desirable than ones with slower access.
Edward Redpath, a real estate broker in Hanover, N.H., said he has seen deals fall through once the buyer realizes a home doesn’t get broadband. Across the Connecticut River in Norwich, Vt., only the center of the village has cable.
“We have a lot of people that don’t go into the rural neighborhoods or consider the rural neighborhoods because they need the broadband,” Redpath said. “Our lifestyle demands speed.”
There are several intersecting trends at play. One is that our reliance on broadband is increasing. About 55 percent of Americans have broadband at home, according to a recent survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project — although more people have service available to them and don’t buy it.
But the spread of broadband is slowing down. Getting the last 10 percent or so of homes connected is an expensive proposition, because they’re in small communities or far from other homes. Over time, the lack of universal broadband, along with higher gasoline…