Although dial-up will remain the primary method of US consumer internet access until 2006, DSL subscriber numbers are to continue gaining momentum, according to a new report from In-Stat/MDR.
In-Stat says that a ‘pent-up’ demand for broadband services is ‘alive and well’ and forecasts that almost one quarter of online households will subscribe to a broadband service by the end of this year. The number of DSL lines is predicted to grow by 3 million in 2002 to 7.6 million; approximately 80% of these lines will serve consumer homes.
Service providers are looking to broadband packages as a way of increasing revenue, but it is no longer availability which is the main obstacle to uptake. Rather, a survey by In-Stat has found that consumers see price and lack of compelling applications as the main deterrents to upgrading from dial-up to broadband. High-speed online gaming is seen as an ongoing driver of broadband consumer uptake.
A recent Oftel survey of the UK market found that one third of dial-up internet users are now interested in subscribing to broadband (see One In Three Dial-Up Users Want Broadband).
