Most U.S. households actively use the Internet, Gartner survey finds

Approximately 61% of U.S. households – some 65 million – are actively using the Internet, according to new survey results from Gartner Inc.’s Dataquest Inc. research group. That’s an increase of 8.4 million users since Dataquest’s previous survey just last November. 90% of those households surveyed said they were likely to continue their Internet subscription, indicating that the Internet is becoming a standard utility in the household, say Gartner Dataquest analysts.

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“While U.S. businesses and consumers have been cutting back and restructuring their debt to weather the economic slowdown, consumers haven’t yet reduced their seemingly insatiable appetite for Internet access,” says Amanda Sabia, industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest’s worldwide telecommunications and networking group. “In fact, there is no indication that this demand will abate over the next 12 months.”

One in four households wired to the Internet have some form of high-speed access. 50% of the high-speed access households use cable modems. Nearly 20% of the dial-up households said they expected to subscribe to some form of high-speed connectivity by mid 2002. “Cable providers are making a more concerted effort to sell cable modems, while the main purveyors of DSL services have not taken up the cable challenge in the residential market, instead focusing on the business segment,” says Peggy Schoener, senior analyst for Gartner Dataquest. “Cable modem providers have also provided a better customer installation experience than DSL.”