Broadband Internet adoptions grow 49% in a year, NetRatings reports
The Internet continues to become a more broadband place, according to the latest numbers from Nielsen/NetRatings. The number of American consumers accessing the Internet via broadband connections from home grew 49% in May 2003 from May 2002 while the number of narrowband users declined 12%, Nielsen/NetRatings reports. "We`re seeing the mainstreaming of broadband as more and more modem users migrate to high-speed, especially as broadband costs continue to drop," says Marc Ryan, director of analysis, Nielsen/NetRatings. "Clearly people are discovering the perks of high-speed access, from streaming video and audio to rich media."
However, there are still nearly twice as many narrowband users as broadband users in the U.S.--69.6 million narrowband vs. 38.9 million broadband. A year ago, there were three times as many narrowband users as broadband users--79.4 million vs. 26.1 million.
Students are the largest category of broadband users at 7.8 million, up 51% from a year ago. Consumers 65 and older are the fastest growing group of broadband users, rising 64% to 1.7 million. High income users--$75,00 to $100,00 a year--are the fastest growing income group, with their numbers up 55% to 8.1 million users.
Of narrowband users, the 28.8/33.6Kbps group experienced the biggest decline of 16% to 10.1 million users, while the 56Kbps group had the biggest drop in sheer size of 7.4 million users or a 12% decrease.
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