Fiber Survey Results

Two surveys were conducted by Southwest Statistical Consulting, LLC during March 2009. One was a residential survey and the other a business survey. Both surveys were constructed to investigate the same issue. Specific questions were directed toward concerns of businesses and residents.

Prior to conducting the survey, public education was conducted in the form of 1) information posted on the City of Cortez web site, 2) media coverage including the Cortez Journal and KSJD, 3) presentations at various civic and business organization meetings and 4) information from the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce.

Residential Survey – Summary Results

The residential survey consisted of responses from 300 randomly selected households within the city limits of Cortez. Key results from the residential survey are:

• 73% had internet access at home
• 53% were familiar with the use of fiber optics in telecommunications
• 80% had heard favorable information on fiber optics
• 46% had DSL or broadband as their primary internet connection
• 41% would be interested in ultra high-speed internet service over a fiber optic line; 38% were not and 21% were unsure

Results to all questions are attached. These results are not weighted for corrections to age and other demographic factors, however, only minor changes to the results are anticipated. The sampling error on a single question with a yes/no answer is approximately +/- 6% at a 95% level of confidence.

Cortez residents not contacted by the random survey were also given the opportunity to complete a survey on line; 31 did so. These results have not been tabulated to date.

Business Survey – Summary Results

The business survey was sent by U.S. mail to 652 businesses within the city limits of Cortez after preparation of master list. Businesses included non-profit agencies and sole proprietors such as physicians and accountants. Government organizations that were known to currently have fiber optic telecommunication technology were excluded. Approximately 12 pieces of mail were returned as not deliverable. Most were businesses that no longer existed.

There were 111 responses received, approximately have via the internet and half via U.S. mail. A summary of results follows.

• 22% of respondents were in retail trade; 12% in real estate; and 9% in finance and insurance
• 48% were 1 or 2 person business; 22% were 3 to 5 person businesses
• Almost 50 % were in business between 6 and 20 years
• 85% were locally owned
• 78% had a favorable opinion of fiber optics
• 95% of businesses have internet service
• 73% have DSL or broadband as their primary internet connection
• 63% indicated that they definitely wanted fiber optic service; 32% responded said maybe and 5% did not want it

The decision to mail a survey to all businesses was made because it is extremely difficult to obtain valid responses to this type of complex survey by phone, especially from small business. If the responses were random, the sampling error on a sample of 111 would be approximately +/- 9.5% at 95% confidence. Of course, it is not possible to determine if the response is representative.