US Broadband Access on the Rise

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 14 -- Twenty-eight percent of US households connect to the Internet via a broadband connection, according to two surveys by Dataquest Inc.

During the survey period, from February 2000 to June 2002, the rate of broadband Internet use in the US nearly tripled, with a 9 percent average monthly growth rate. The number of households accessing the Internet via either broadband or a dialup connection grew an average of 1 percent each month.

"Neither the economic slowdown, or the relatively high price points for DSL, cable modem and other broadband access modalities have slowed adoption or demand for these access services," said Margaret Schoener, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's worldwide Telecommunications and Networking group. "In fact, there are many locations where broadband demand is not being met because DSL and cable modem are not yet available."

Of the nine census-block regions in the US, the Pacific (California, Oregon and Washington) and New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) regions have the most households with broadband access. Thirty-four percent of Pacific online households and 33 percent of New England online households use broadband, Dataquest said.

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