The district-wide postal and online survey was carried out during December and January.
A total of 1242 people took part in the survey, answering questions about their internet usage at home and at work.
About 50 people also contributed to industry sector survey workshops in education, health, hospitality, tourism and agriculture, held in February.
District development manager Jill Borland said that one of the survey's key findings was that 41% of respondents rated their internet speed at work as anywhere from "a little slow" to "impossibly slow".
"Yet 83% of respondents agree that fast internet access is critical for their business, including farms, to succeed," Ms Borland said.
The survey also showed 8% of respondents lived in an area where the internet was not available, while poor levels of access were widely reported in Milton, the Catlins and all rural areas.
Ms Borland said the survey was a first step towards developing a digital strategy for the district. The strategy would aim to provide solutions for issues relating to access, speed, community capability and the cost of service provision.
Clutha's larger townships have also been included in "zone 3" of the Government's rural broadband initiative (RBI) and ultrafast broadband (UFB) initiatives.
Next year is the second year of the scheme and some RBI work has already been completed in the district, including the introduction of ultra-fast broadband to nine rural schools.
Introduction for "zone 3" is expected to be announced in the next few months. Work is to be completed by 2015.
New cell towers are also due to be installed in Kaitangata and Owaka, starting in the next 12 months. Upgrades of cell sites in Balclutha, Clinton, Lawrence, Milton and Mt Stuart are scheduled for 2014, which should improve internet speeds and enable wireless broadband services.
New and upgraded cell sites will be "open access", providing opportunities for local internet service providers.
Through Vodafone's community cell site scheme, two towers will be established in the north and south of the Catlins, and the company is looking at sites this month.
Ms Borland said these sites could be upgraded in future to enable wireless broadband services.
