The growth in the number of U.S. households adopting high-speed Internet connections is slowing, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Fifty-three percent of home Internet users going online in May used broadband connections, compared with 50% in December 2004, a statistically insignificant increase, Pew said. That compared to a 20% growth rate—from 35% of home users to 42%—between November 2003 and May 2004.
Broadband is considered a key driver of e-commerce, because broadband users tend to shop online more than dial-up users.
The slowdown in consumer use of high-speed Internet connections is due in part to a drop in pent-up demand for broadband, Pew said. Typically, people start with dial-up connections and then move up to broadband, but the demographics of the dial-up group has changed since 2002.
“Today’s dial-up users are older, less educated, and with lower income than their counterparts in 2002, all factors associated with tepid Internet use,” said John B. Horrigan, director of research and author of the report. “With fewer Internet users coming online these days, the stock of potential broadband subscribers is not being replenished.”
New Internet users—those online for a year or less—accounted for 4% of the Internet population in May, compared with 6% in October 2002, according to Pew.
Pew based its report on interviews with 2,001 U.S. consumers in May, of whom 1,336 were Internet users.
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