The Great Plains Free-Net (GPFN) was formed in May 1994 with the objective of forming a community-based, non-profit, telecommunity for those areas of Saskatchewan not currently serviced by such a service. The model at its inception was that espoused by the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) in the United States.
At its inaugural meeting, the founding members of the Great Plains Free-Net had the foresight and vision to commission a Needs-Assessment Committee to "perform community surveys, studies, etc. to define the services that the Regina [sic] freenet will provide upon initiation in the future..."[1]
To date, we know of no other Free-Net or telecommunity that sought to conduct a survey prior to start-up. This committee met on June 2, 1994 to begin the task set before it.
The methodology of a randomized phone survey was finally implemented in May 1995 with 457 surveys of Regina area residents.
[1]Draft agenda for the June 13, 1994 meeting of the then Regina Free-net dated May 30, 1994.
To date, a number of surveys have been completed on the types of information and content people are interested in accessing through the Internet. An Angus Reid poll published in February, 1995 shows that most people expressed "great interest" in educational programs and banking. Approximately a third of those surveyed listed "tax filing, news, community information, video on demand, show tickets and information and classified advertising" as electronic highway offerings in which they would show "great interest." Less than a quarter of respondents found software buying, travel planning, Unemployment Insurance, investing, local or long-distance shopping, sports tickets, real estate or video games as showing great interest.[2]
A MacWorld Poll from October 1994 showed "high or very high" interest in participatory and educational activities such as "vote in elections" (50%) "search reference tools" (47%), "distance learning" (38%), "obtain local school information" (38%), "search card catalogs" (37%), "participate in opinion polls" (33%), "obtain tax/credit data" (31%), "participate in electronic town hall" (30%), "obtain government information" (30%), "video-on-demand" (28%), and "search magazines/newspapers" (27%), When those with moderate interest in these categories are included, it is only these categories which have interest greater than 50%. Near the bottom of the list are gambling, video dating, sports activities, role playing games, and local event or marketing information.[3] Statistics Canada figures on the percentage of national and Saskatchewan households owning computers by household income groupings. The relative interest shown by people in part reflects the interests of people in general. But it also reflects some other significant signals. People are not interested in seeing the "information highway" become a marketing tool or electronic mall. They are also strongly interested in using their computers and modems for educational programs, community information and a return to participatory government and action.
The question of what types of content people want to access on the "information highway" is predicated on the question of whether they can access it. The percentage of people who have computers and modems is still in the minority although it is rising. The demographics of these households is also worthy of examination.
Statistics Canada figures on the percentage of national households owning computers by household income groupings and population settings. Statistics Canada figures from 1994 reveal that nationally 25% of households have home computers.[4] In Saskatchewan, this percentage drops to 21.1. When stratified by income groups, As Figure 1 shows, differences in home computer ownership in Saskatchewan when measured against income strata is more marked than across Canada as a whole, However, computers are no longer a luxury good affordable only to upper income households. Rather they are found in varying degrees in homes at all income levels. A more marked difference can be found when homes in different urban settings are compared. As Figure 2 demonstrates, urban homes nation-wide are much more likely to have computers than those in rural areas. 28% of households in urban areas with populations exceeding 100,000 people have computers. In contrast, only 19% of homes in urban areas under 30,000 people have computers. Rural areas average 20.4%. As well, single family homes with one or more children are more likely to have computers than households inhabited by childless couples or single adults.
The entire topic of computer penetration within society is a rapidly advancing and dynamic field of inquiry. Some estimates put the growth in the personal computer sales market at about 20% annually[5]. The current study is an attempt both to update findings and to broaden the ffocus and perspective of this area of discussion.
[2]Globe and Mail, February 6, 1995, p. B3.
[3]MacWorld, October 1994. p. 99.
[4]References are from Household Facilities by Income and Other Characteristics, 1994. #13-218. Published by the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology, Ottawa.
[5]The Financial Post, Thursday, October 5, 1995, p. 12.
Randomized phone calls were made to residential numbers listed in the Regina City phone directory on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in May 1995. Interviewers sought out the member of the household "over the age of 13 who uses a computer most frequently or is most likely to use a computer."
For calls where the correct person was not home or there was no answer, the same number was called back up to three times on successive evenings to avoid selection bias.
When the correct respondent was obtained, a brief survey querying whether the respondent had a computer and modem, and if not, whether the respondent was planning to purchase a computer within the next two years, was asked. If both of these were answered in the negative, respondents were asked if they were interested in accessing the Free-Net through public terminals. If this question was also answered in the negative, the survey was terminated.
Including call backs, disconnected numbers and no answers, a total of 1440 attempted calls resulted in 774 contacts. Of these, 457 screening surveys were completed and 235 went on to complete full surveys.
Out of 457 responses, 38.5% stated that they had a computer and 50% of these households have modems. An additional 10.7% of respondents are planning to purchase a computer within 2 years. Based on people's intentions, within two years, over 68% of home computers will be accompanied with modems.
An additional 7.4% of respondents stated that they do not own computers and have no immediate intention of purchasing one, but are interested in using public terminals to access the Free-Net. As well 51% of those who either own or are planning to own computers are also interested in public access terminals in libraries and other public places.
For the remainder of the study, 235 completed full forms were used for the analysis.
In total over 37% of respondents will have the hardware to access the Free-Net or are interested in using public access terminals.
Table 1: Computer and Modem ownership and future ownership as a percentage of total sample. | ||
---|---|---|
% of Total | Cum. % | |
Have computer | 38.5 | 38.5 |
Plan to purchase computer | 5.5 | 44.0 |
Have modem | 19.3 | 19.3 |
Plan to purchase modem | 10.7 | 30.0 |
Table 2: Interest in using public access terminals among those with or planning to buy home computers and those with no plan to own a home computer | ||
---|---|---|
% of Total | Cum. % | |
Own or plan to buy a computer | 24.7 | 24.7 |
No plan to own a computer | 7.4 | 32.1 |
From the 51% of respondents who have a computer, plan to purchase a computer or want to have access via public terminals, the following demographic profiles emerged. Among educational levels, high school graduates and those with Bachelor's degrees emerged as two groups with the greatest likelihood of having a computer. Most computer users are between 25 and 44 years of age. More than half (51.4%) had three to four members in their household. When asked for their language of preference 97.5% responded with English while the remaining 2.5% gave no response or otherwise refused to answer. Most users have a household income over $35,000 per annum and 59.7% were male.
At the same time, these results must be prefaced with the caution that some sub-groups in this study are under-represented. Of those respondents who have a computer and modem, or who are planning on acquiring one, or who are interested in public access terminals, Tables 3-6 portrays the size (n) of these sub-groups relative to the total study. Where n is very small, results relevant to these sub-groups must be interpreted with the greatest of latitude.
Table 3: Frequency (n) and percentage of each sub-group relative to the total sample size by gender | ||
---|---|---|
n | Percent | |
Male | 114 | 48.5 |
Female | 76 | 32.3 |
Undetermined | 45 | 19.1 |
Table 4: Frequency (n) and percentage of each sub-group relative to the total sample size by age | ||
---|---|---|
n | Percent | |
13-17 | 25 | 10.6 |
18-24 | 26 | 11.1 |
25-34 | 45 | 19.1 |
35-44 | 65 | 27.7 |
45-54 | 24 | 10.2 |
55-64 | 8 | 3.4 |
65-75 | 5 | 2.1 |
over 75 | 0 | 0.0 |
Don't Know/Refused | 37 | 15.7 |
Table 5: Frequency (n) and percentage of each sub-group relative to the total sample size by highest achieved educational level | ||
---|---|---|
n | Percent | |
less than High School | 24 | 10.2 |
High School Diploma | 48 | 20.4 |
some Univ./Tech. | 33 | 14.0 |
Technical Diploma | 21 | 8.9 |
Bachelors Degree | 50 | 21.3 |
Graduate Degree | 21 | 8.9 |
Refused /Don't Know | 38 | 16.2 |
Table 6: Frequency (n) and percentage of each sub-group relative to the total sample size by household size | ||
---|---|---|
n | Percent | |
One | 20 | 8.5 |
Two | 41 | 17.4 |
Three-Four | 105 | 44.7 |
Five or more | 31 | 13.2 |
Refused/Don't Know | 38 | 16.2 |
Figure 3: Percent of respondents who have a home computer and modem or who want to access the Free-Net via public terminals stratified by highest achieved education level.
Figure 4: Percent of respondents who have a home computer and modem or who want to access the Free-Net via public terminals as referenced by age.
Figure 5: Percent of respondents who have a home computer and modem or who want to access the Free-Net via public terminals as referenced by income level.
Respondents were also asked to rank their interest in various content categories using a Likert-type scale. These responses were then cross-tabulated against demographic variables.
Both men and women share similar interests in many respects. Computer information and advice, library catalogs, community information, educational programs, recreational schedules, reference materials, health information, e-mail, news, travel planning, conversation, weather information, financial information, show tickets and information, and government reports and information are ranked as very or slightly important by more than half of all respondents regardless of gender.
Some gender differences do emerge. Women are more likely than men to express an interest in community information, health information, travel planning, club and society information, self-help groups as well as UIC and the Job Bank. Men are more likely than women to express interest in long-distance shopping, agricultural information, financial information and sporting issues.
Overall, both genders seem unenthusiastic about shopping and merchandising activities in general, as well as "niche" groups such as professional associations, UIC and self-help groups.
When grouped by age, all age brackets are generally interested in library catalogs, health, computer and community information. The majority of 13-54 year olds are interested in e-mail, travel, reference materials, educational programs (distance education), conversation on-line, and news. Only a minority of respondents in the older age groups of 55 are interested in these categories.
Youth (13-17) are unanimous in their support for sports information on-line. Younger people in general are interested in both the educational and recreational opportunities afforded by a Free-Net. Younger people are more interested in using the Free-Net for consumer and commercial activities. Young adults are also very interested in the use of the Free-Net as a forum for job hunting, and to a lesser extent, government publications and financial planning and information.
Individuals with technical institute certificates and diplomas are generally unenthusiastic about the opportunities afforded by Free-Nets. As shown in Figure 8, they often express the lowest interest in many information categories.
Those respondents at the lower income levels generally express a stronger interest for most information categories including educational, recreational, informational and news resources as well as e-mail. There is a strong desire among low and middle income brackets to use Free-Net resources for job searching, and a desire among low income respondents to use the Free-Net for shopping purposes.
Figure 6: Percent of Respondents who are "Very Interested" or "Somewhat Interested" in various content areas as stratified by gender.
Figure 7.1: Percent of Respondents who are "Very Interested" or "Somewhat Interested" in various content areas as stratified by age.
Figure 8.1: Percent of Respondents who are "Very Interested" or "Somewhat Interested" in various content areas as stratified by highest achieved educational level.
Figure 9.1: Percent of Respondents who are "Very Interested" or "Somewhat Interested" in various content areas as stratified by income groupings.
Although most people (60.5%) said they had never heard of the Free-Net prior to the survey, a broad spectrum of support for the Free-Net emerged from the data. Among all education levels, the majority of respondents stated that they were interested in using the Free-Net (Figure 10). Except those with technical certificates or diplomas, more than 81% of people in all educational levels showed their support of the Free-Net concept. Among people with technical certificates support was only 67%.
Figure 10: Percent of respondents from each educational level who expressed an interest in using the Free-Net (excluding "no" and "don't know" responses).
The same high level of support was found among all age groups under 55. Support in all age categories from 13 to 54 for use of the Free-Net ranged in to 84-92% range. Only in the 55-64 and 64-75 age groups did a minority of respondents express an interest in using the Free-Net.
Among the lower income groups, less that $10,000 household income and $10,000-15,000, the level of support was 100%. Among higher income groups is ranged from 78% to 93%.
When sorted by gender, males were more interested in using the Free-Net than females. 90.3% of men expressed such an interest compared to 73.7% of females.
People do seem prepared to back up this interest with their pocketbooks. When asked what they thought was a fair annual donation, 25% of respondents suggested a donation in the $50-100 range. Another 20% felt that $25-49 was an appropriate range. Over half of respondents felt that an annual donation above $25 was a fair one. As well, 53% of respondents said that they were willing to make such a donation. Only 15% said "No" when asked, "Would you be willing to make a donation to help cover the operating expenses of the Free-Net?".
Figure 11: Percent of respondents from each age level who expressed an interest in using the Free-Net (excluding "no" and "don't know" responses).
Figure 12: Percent of respondents from each household income level who expressed an interest in using the Free-Net (excluding "no" and "don't know" responses).
26% of respondents already have Internet access, Of these, 32% have access from home, 55% from work, and 28% through school[6]. People who have current Internet access through home, work or school are even more willing to access the Free-Net. 95% of these people stated their interest in using the Free-Net compared with only 76% of people without Internet access. People who have access through home or school were unanimous in their support for the Free-Net while 90% of the people who connected through work felt they would use the Free-Net.
Figure 13: Percent of respondents by gender who expressed an interest in using the Free-Net (excluding "no" and "don't know" responses).
Both those with and without Internet access were about as likely to give a donation to the Free-Net (65% for those with access compared to 60%) but people with Internet access were generally prepared to give a slightly larger donation. Internet users were more likely to become members of the Free-Net (45.6% compared to 33.6%), and felt that larger membership fees were in order (57.7% felt fees above $25 were in order, compared to 39% for those without access). People with current access were slightly more prepared to volunteer time to the Free-Net (37% compared to 31%).
Among those with only e-mail access (20% of those with Internet access), 100% were interested in using the Free-Net, but were less likely to give a donation (58.3% compared to 69.4%). Full access users were also more likely to take out membership (55.6% compared with 41.7%). Those with less access were also much 60.5more undecided about their responses.
Growth of the Free-Net movement depends on community involvement. 32.3%--almost a third of respondents said that they were interested in becoming a member. 69% of these people felt that a membership fee of between $10 and $49 was appropriate with numbers evenly split between the $10-24 range and $25-49. As well, 28.2% indicated their interest in volunteering time to help with the Free-Net.
22% of respondents claimed they had heard of the Great Plains Free-Net before the survey. Most of these obtained their knowledge through the newspaper, friends and colleagues, and in the workplace.
Figure 14: Relative sources of knowledge among those respondents who are familiar with the Great Plains Free-Net.
[6]Numbers do not add up to 100 because some individuals have access from more than one location.
Of those households which have a computer and modem, less than a third have speeds under 14.4 kilobaud. Users saw themselves logging on between 2-4 times a month and daily.
Figure 15: Maximum modem transmission rates among those respondents who know the speed of their modem.
48% of respondents stated that they saw themselves logging onto the system in the early evening (6-9PM) with a much smaller group (11.4%) looking forward to late evening (9-11PM). Early afternoon (12-3PM) was the least likely time for logons (1.4%). 21.8% did not know or gave no response as to their preferred logon times.
Respondents saw themselves logging on weekdays (28.6%) or all days equally (30.0%). Saturdays were preferred by 12.7% while Sundays were only favoured by 5% of respondents.
Most people felt a maximum access time of 30 minutes to 2 hours was a fair length of time for registered users.
Figure 16: Anticipated frequency of logons to the GPFN system among those users who said they would become registered users.
Figure 17: Desired maximum daily access among those respondents who said they would become GPFN registered users.
Figure 18: Preferred time to day for logging onto the system.
The survey shows strong support for the concept of a Free-Net in the Regina area. 72% of people with a home computer and modem expressed an interest in using the Free-Net. With the growth in home computer ownership, this already gives the Free-Net a strong potential base with which to begin operations.
Not only are people intellectually supportive of the concept of the Free-Net, they are prepared to commit themselves to its creation and on-going operation. 32% of respondents were interested in becoming GPFN members and felt that membership fees in the $10-$49 range are reasonable. Over half of all respondents were prepared to give a donation to the Free-Net to help cover operations with the modal donation in the $50-$100 range. As well, over a quarter of people (28.2%) stated that they would be interested in volunteering time to help the Free-Net achieve or maintain its mandate.
At the present time, most prospective Free-Net users have access to a home computer or are contemplating purchasing a computer with modem. As such, the majority of prospective users are male, but not overwhelmingly so. Users will tend to have a high school diploma or bachelor's degree, be in the 25-44 age bracket and make above $35,000 per annum in household income.
The study also found a strong level of support across all population sub-groupings. There was strong interest in the Free-Net among low-income respondents and high school students and as the percentage of homes with computers continues to expand, these groups have the potential of becoming major users of the Free-Net as well.
Interestingly, individuals who already have access to the Internet are somewhat more committed to supporting a Free-Net than those who do not. This could be due to their familiarity with the potential and opportunities afforded by the medium of Internet and a perceived shortcoming of present Internet content and offerings.
Current publicity efforts by the Great Plains Free-Net have been effective. 22% of respondents have heard of the Great Plains Free-Net with another 18% unsure of themselves. The most common sources of information identified by people include friends and colleagues and the newspaper. Workplace advertising and mass electronic media have been somewhat effective while the public library and schools have been relatively ineffective conduits through which to share the Free-Net message, even though from a philosophical perspective these two institutions should have similar goals as the Free-Net.
From the strong support shown by low income respondents, the claim to be a "Free" Net may be a strong appeal to particular population groups.
The survey revealed strong interest for education and other information content areas. Computer information, library catalogs, community, reference, health and recreational information all topped the list of information interests. Based on the survey results, most people are eager to access the public library catalog through the Free-Net.
Technical Institute graduates were least interested in accessing information, but they are also the least likely to have a home computer. High School students and young people are interested in merchandising opportunities while job searching is another keen interest among young adults.
Public service information is another strong interest, particularly among lower income groups who may prefer to access these content types via the Free-Net. These "Public service" information providers would include groups and organizations concerned with community, health, education, recreation and financial advice.
For clubs, professional associations, self-help groups, and other organizations, the Free-Net can provide a cost effective option to present their message and objectives to the public. Although less than half of respondents expressed an interest for these areas, the numbers of potential users of the Free-Net would still afford these groups an excellent vehicle for the dissemination of their message.
As a survey conducted within the City of Regina local calling area, there was a lack of interest for agricultural and weather related information areas--areas much more important to rural residents. A comprehensive province-wide survey would be required before attempting to address issues related to smaller urban and rural centres.
A large number of modems in use are newer high speed modems. Over half of the available modems are capable of transmitting at 14,400 baud or higher with only a third of modems at 2,400 baud or slower. Because people will want to connect with the Free-Net at their highest available speed, the Free-Net really has no need for modems in its modem pool slower than 14,400 baud.
From people's self-assessment of their projected use of the Free-Net, system resources can easily be overloaded on early weekday evenings. The largest single group of people saw themselves logging onto the system between two to six times a week, and almost half of respondents saw this happening between 6-9 PM.
Respondents did feel that a maximum daily access period of 30 minutes to 2 hours was appropriate. To this end, the Free-Net can level its system usage by granting a shorter access period during the peak hours and extending access periods for those users who log on at other times.
Based on comparisons with other studies, the current study demonstrates that a significant growth in home computer ownership is under way and people have a strong desire to avail themselves of the opportunities afforded by telecommuting. Moreover, people are also very interested in the vision of an "electronic community" as advanced by the Free-Net movement. In Regina, they are not only interested in becoming users of a Free-Net system but are also very interested in committing their time and resources to making such a system a reality.
Potential users of such a system span the entire gender, income, educational level and age spectra permitting a true democratization of this interactive electronic medium. Current users of the Internet are even more supportive of the goals and objectives of the Free-Net than naive respondents suggesting that, for many people, the Free-Net is not a jumping stone on their way to full Internet Access as much as it is an adjunct service to complement other existing services.
People for the most part are very interested in the types and topics of content areas of the Free-Net. Except for the young and lower-income strata, people are not very interested in merchandising opportunities and commercial activities on the Internet.
The support voiced for the Free-Net is very high, especially when the growth of existing and future commercial Internet Providers is considered. People seem genuinely attracted to the concept of a low-cost service that focuses on community, informational, educational, and participatory concerns and contents.
The study clearly demonstrates that the Great Plains Free-Net should have no difficulty securing the level of usage from the community to warrant the provision of its services. Furthermore, the level of support is so significant that governmental and non-governmental information providers should see the opportunities afforded by Free-Net as a broadly based medium for information delivery and dialog with their constituents.
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