[imgbelt img=8bl.jpg]A company specializing in measuring Internet use has found that “broadband penetration in rural markets has experienced double-digit growth in the past year, driven largely by regional providers continuing to capture an increasing share of the market in these areas.”  ComScore, Inc., a publicly traded company that measures digital media, reports that rural areas still lag metropolitan communities in the percentage of residents with broadband. But that difference is narrowing. “Fueled by greater price competition, increased consumer demand, and growth in bandwidth-intense activities like video streaming and peer-to-peer sharing, broadband penetration continues to make gains across rural markets,” ComScore reported. “Broadband penetration in rural markets reached 81 percent in Q4 2009, representing a sizeable increase of 13 percentage points in the past year alone.”In the three most rural markets, broadband penetration reached 61% in Alaska, 56% in Wyoming and 52% in Montana.