ROANOKE -- Households in Southwest Virginia are among the least wired in the country, according to research that ranked it last among 79 U.S. markets for broadband use.

The Roanoke-Lynchburg market includes adult households in 25 Virginia counties.

Only 29 percent of the adults in that market have high-speed Internet connections in their homes, according to Scarborough Research.

The report compiled from August 2006 to September 2007 placed the region in direct contrast with the rest of the nation, which it found had quadrupled broadband use from 2002 to 2007.

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The findings were surprising considering Roanoke was designated the top digital city for its population in 2006 and Blacksburg was deemed the most-wired city in the world in the 1990s.

"This is not a statistic that you would include in your economic development prospectus," said Andrew Cohill, president and chief executive officer of Design Nine, a Blacksburg company that advises communities in broadband and telecommunications planning. "It's very important to have widespread availability and affordability of broadband, especially from the home [for telecommuters]."

Officials said it's important to consider what communities, especially rural locales, have access to broadband service before jumping to conclusions about the region's economic prospects.

There are limitations to where high-speed Internet is available nationwide, and largely, it depends on which companies service which areas.

As access improves and prices for high-speed Internet decrease, more residents in this market are getting connected, officials said.

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In Highland County, the Highland Telephone Cooperative has offered DSL service for three years.

At least 30 percent of the company's 1,420 customers now have the service, up from just 14 percent last year. Consumers indicated the previous monthly price was too high, General Manager Phil Munchel said.

The company slashed the cost from about $42 a month to $19.95.

Highland County residents are interested in the Internet as much for personal use as for professional, using it to operate home businesses and for telecommuting, Munchel said.

"That's what allows folks to live in this area," Munchel said. "Because they have broadband, they can telecommute."

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Not all area officials viewed the Scarborough results as troubling. Doug Chittum, director of economic development for Roanoke County, said it is a plus that the area market made the list, because it was a report of top national markets for broadband penetration.

He also said he didn't expect it to hamper efforts to attract new businesses, because most retailers are interested only in data from an immediate area, not from an entire region. As access improves and prices for high-speed Internet decrease, more residents in this market are getting connected, officials said