The cost of high-speed internet access is prohibitive and a big turn-off for a majority of users in the US, claims a new report from the Office of Technology Policy (OTP).
Although the service is now available in most parts of the country, only one in ten of those with internet access uses a broadband connection to go online. As a result, the US is lingering behind countries such as South Korea where more than 50% of households have a high-speed connection.
Broadband access costs, on average, $50 per month in the US while dial-up access remains much cheaper at approximately $20 per month. The OTP speculates that the public at large is waiting for prices to come down before subscribing to high-speed services. However since the start of 2001, monthly costs have actually increased by an average of 11.4% for DSL users and 16% for cable users, according to the report.
It was also suggested that the lack of content specifically aimed at high-speed users (e.g. video game networks, movies and music) is another reason for the slow take-up of broadband.
The Yankee Group recently claimed that the broadband subscriber market will grow by more than 300% in the next five years but it accepted that major progress was unlikely until 2004 (see US Broadband Subscriptions Set To Multiply, Says Yankee Group).
